American Electric Power Company, Inc. $AEP Shares Bought by D.A. Davidson & CO.

D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its stake in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 12.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 51,446 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 5,542 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $5,932,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AEP. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in American Electric Power by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 52,496,895 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,053,417,000 after acquiring an additional 828,588 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of American Electric Power by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 28,922,911 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,253,827,000 after purchasing an additional 406,445 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of American Electric Power by 26.8% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,084,813 shares of the company’s stock worth $684,772,000 after purchasing an additional 1,285,279 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 105.6% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,379,342 shares of the company’s stock valued at $595,243,000 after purchasing an additional 2,763,328 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in shares of American Electric Power by 8.0% during the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,223,848 shares of the company’s stock worth $587,683,000 after purchasing an additional 388,540 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other American Electric Power news, EVP Phillip R. Ulrich sold 4,106 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.08, for a total transaction of $542,320.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 42,263 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,582,097.04. The trade was a 8.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kelly J. Ferneau sold 1,351 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.46, for a total transaction of $177,602.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 15,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,025,798.60. This trade represents a 8.06% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.05% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

Shares of AEP stock opened at $135.59 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $73.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.24, a PEG ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.58. The business has a 50 day moving average of $132.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $123.57. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 52 week low of $97.46 and a 52 week high of $137.74. 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 announced its quarterly 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. American Electric Power had a return on equity of 10.46% and a net margin of 16.37%.The business had revenue of $5.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.24 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. American Electric Power has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.150-6.450 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 6.33 EPS for the current year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.95 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 8th. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. American Electric Power’s payout ratio is 56.72%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AEP. Raymond James Financial boosted their price objective on American Electric Power from $138.00 to $143.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $148.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Evercore boosted their price target on American Electric Power from $137.00 to $153.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Seaport Research Partners raised American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $145.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Bank of America cut American Electric Power from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $131.00 to $122.00 in a research note on Monday, January 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $138.18.

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.