American Electric Power Q3 Adj. Profit Beats Estimates; Raises FY19 EPS Outlook

(RTTNews) - American Electric Power Co., Inc. (AEP) on Thursday reported that its net earnings for the third quarter were $733.5 million or $1.49 per share, up from $577.6 million or $1.17 per share in the year-ago period.

Operating earnings for the quarter were $722.3 million or $1.46 per share, compared to $619.1 million or $1.26 per share in the prior-year period.

Revenue for the quarter was flat with the prior-year quarter at $4.3 billion.

On average, analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $1.32 per share for the quarter on revenues of $4.71 billion. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

AEP said its board of directors also voted earlier this week to boost the quarterly dividend by $0.03 to $0.70 per share, an increase of 4.5 percent.

Looking ahead to fiscal 2019, AEP increased and narrowed its operating earnings outlook range to $4.14 to $4.24 per share, from the prior range of $4.00 to $4.20 per share. The Street expects earnings of $4.15 per share for the year.