Wall Street Zen Downgrades American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) to Sell

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) was downgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $133.00 target price on shares of American Electric Power in a research report on Friday. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $121.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on American Electric Power from $140.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Scotiabank increased their target price on American Electric Power from $121.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $123.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $131.28.

American Electric Power Trading Up 0.7%

NASDAQ AEP opened at $129.37 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $69.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.62. American Electric Power has a fifty-two week low of $97.46 and a fifty-two week high of $132.78. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $119.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $116.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.45.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Benjamin G. S. Fowke III sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.07, for a total transaction of $575,350.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 25,898 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,980,082.86. This trade represents a 16.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Electric Power

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in American Electric Power by 11.5% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 10,601 shares of the company’s stock worth $978,000 after purchasing an additional 1,095 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Electric Power during the 1st quarter valued at about $320,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 149.5% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,891 shares of the company’s stock worth $507,000 after purchasing an additional 2,931 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 5.4% in the second quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 41,934 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,351,000 after buying an additional 2,161 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ethic Inc. increased its holdings in American Electric Power by 10.8% during the second quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 12,244 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,255,000 after buying an additional 1,189 shares during the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About American Electric Power

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.