American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) Upgraded to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Sunday.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on AEP. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH decreased their price objective on American Electric Power from $124.50 to $117.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Siebert Williams Shank began coverage on American Electric Power in a report on Thursday, December 18th. They set a “buy” rating and a $137.00 price target on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $125.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Bank of America cut shares of American Electric Power from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $131.00 to $122.00 in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of American Electric Power in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Electric Power has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $132.53.

American Electric Power Price Performance

American Electric Power stock opened at $133.82 on Friday. American Electric Power has a 52-week low of $97.46 and a 52-week high of $134.60. The company has a market cap of $72.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.97, a PEG ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.61. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $120.75 and its 200 day moving average is $117.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The company reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $5.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.07 billion. American Electric Power had a net margin of 16.37% and a return on equity of 10.46%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.24 EPS. American Electric Power has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.150-6.450 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that American Electric Power will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 10th will be issued a $0.95 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 10th. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.72%.

Insider Transactions at American Electric Power

In other American Electric Power news, EVP Kelly J. Ferneau sold 1,351 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.46, for a total value of $177,602.46. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 15,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,025,798.60. The trade was a 8.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Benjamin G. S. Fowke III sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.07, for a total transaction of $575,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 25,898 shares in the company, valued at $2,980,082.86. This represents a 16.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 105.6% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,379,342 shares of the company’s stock valued at $595,243,000 after buying an additional 2,763,328 shares during the period. Soroban Capital Partners LP lifted its stake in American Electric Power by 176.3% in the second quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 4,004,686 shares of the company’s stock worth $415,526,000 after acquiring an additional 2,555,415 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in American Electric Power by 357.5% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,957,491 shares of the company’s stock worth $225,718,000 after acquiring an additional 1,529,662 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in American Electric Power by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 30,437,776 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,509,780,000 after purchasing an additional 1,514,865 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in American Electric Power by 118.2% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,585,605 shares of the company’s stock valued at $286,692,000 after purchasing an additional 1,400,547 shares during the period. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Electric Power Company Profile

American Electric Power (NASDAQ: AEP) is a major investor-owned electric utility headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. The company is primarily engaged in the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity, operating a diverse portfolio of power plants and an extensive high-voltage transmission network. AEP serves retail customers through its regulated utility subsidiaries and provides wholesale power and grid services across multiple regional markets in the United States.

Operations span the full utility value chain: AEP owns and operates generation assets that include fossil-fuel, natural gas, nuclear and hydropower facilities, and it has been adding renewable resources to its mix.