American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) Price Target Raised to $153.00

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) had its target price hoisted by Evercore from $137.00 to $153.00 in a research note published on Thursday morning,MarketScreener reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of American Electric Power in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. UBS Group raised American Electric Power from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $115.00 to $132.00 in a report on Friday, February 27th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on American Electric Power from $121.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. Williams Trading set a $137.00 target price on American Electric Power in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised American Electric Power from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 1st. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Electric Power currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $135.10.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

NASDAQ AEP opened at $131.87 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $122.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $117.94. American Electric Power has a 12-month low of $97.46 and a 12-month high of $134.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The company has a market cap of $71.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.68, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.61.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The company reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.04. American Electric Power had a net margin of 16.37% and a return on equity of 10.46%. The firm had revenue of $5.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.07 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.24 earnings per share. The business’s 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. Sell-side analysts predict that American Electric Power will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 of this dividend is Tuesday, February 10th. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.72%.

Insider Activity at American Electric Power

In related news, EVP Kelly J. Ferneau sold 1,351 shares of American Electric Power stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.46, for a total transaction of $177,602.46. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 15,410 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,025,798.60. This trade represents a 8.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Benjamin G. S. Fowke III sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.07, for a total value of $575,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 25,898 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,980,082.86. This represents a 16.18% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 10,457 shares of company stock valued at $1,295,273. 0.07% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Electric Power

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

Key Headlines Impacting American Electric Power

Here are the key news stories impacting American Electric Power this week:

• Positive Sentiment: AEP is planning roughly $72 billion of grid and renewable investments through 2030 to drive rate-base growth and long-term earnings visibility, supporting the utility-style growth story. American Electric Drives Growth Through Investments and Renewables
• Positive Sentiment: Evercore raised its price target on AEP to $153 and maintained an Outperform rating, signaling analyst confidence and potential upside relative to the current price. Evercore price target raise
• Positive Sentiment: AEP named Adrian Rodriguez president and COO of AEP Texas to strengthen regulatory and stakeholder engagement in a key growth market (he joins March 30). This is a governance/operations positive that could help execution on Texas initiatives. AEP Names Adrian Rodriguez
• Positive Sentiment: Recent quarterly results beat top-line and EPS expectations and AEP set FY2026 guidance (EPS 6.150–6.450), which underpins the stock’s fundamental case for steady regulated earnings growth. (Company release / earnings coverage)
• Positive Sentiment: Brokerage consensus sits around a “Moderate Buy,” reinforcing analyst support for the shares. Consensus rating report
• Neutral Sentiment: Comparative valuation pieces (FE vs. AEP) and sector write-ups are highlighting AEP as a dividend/value play versus peers—useful context but not immediate catalysts. FE or AEP valuation article
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage noting AEP has outperformed the utilities sector recently provides sentiment/context but is not a direct fundamental driver. Sector performance piece
• Neutral Sentiment: Several short-interest updates show anomalous/zero values and NaN changes—this appears to be a data glitch and is not a meaningful short-squeeze signal. (data items)
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts flag concentration risk from Retail Electric Providers (REPs) in some markets and note that proposed/new EPA rules could raise compliance costs or capital timing risk—these are regulatory and counterparty risks that could pressure returns. Zacks coverage on risks

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.