Ninety One UK Ltd Purchases New Position in American Electric Power Company, Inc. $AEP

Ninety One UK Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 39,893 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,600,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AEP. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 28,922,911 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,253,827,000 after acquiring an additional 406,445 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 26.8% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,084,813 shares of the company’s stock worth $684,772,000 after acquiring an additional 1,285,279 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 105.6% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,379,342 shares of the company’s stock worth $595,243,000 after acquiring an additional 2,763,328 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,223,848 shares of the company’s stock worth $587,683,000 after acquiring an additional 388,540 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,129,468 shares of the company’s stock worth $577,065,000 after acquiring an additional 217,080 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

AEP stock opened at $133.66 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $131.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $122.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.65 billion, a PE ratio of 19.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 12-month low of $97.46 and a 12-month high of $137.74.

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

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AEP has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. TD Cowen upped their target price on American Electric Power from $137.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Argus upped their target price on American Electric Power from $128.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $150.00 target price on shares of American Electric Power in a report on Friday, February 20th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $148.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Bank of America cut American Electric Power from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $131.00 to $122.00 in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, American Electric Power currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $136.81.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Electric Power

In other news, EVP Phillip R. Ulrich sold 4,106 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.08, for a total value of $542,320.48. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 42,263 shares in the company, valued at $5,582,097.04. This represents a 8.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Kelly J. Ferneau sold 1,351 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was 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 owned 15,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,025,798.60. This trade represents a 8.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.05% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.