American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) Reaches New 1-Year High – Here’s What Happened

American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $132.78 and last traded at $130.24, with a volume of 4034816 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $129.94.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on AEP shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of American Electric Power in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on American Electric Power from $133.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $125.00 price target on shares of American Electric Power in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Bank of America downgraded 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 report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $121.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Electric Power presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $129.83.

American Electric Power Stock Up 0.2%

The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $118.14 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $116.25. The company has a market cap of $70.44 billion, a PE ratio of 19.44, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.45 and a quick ratio of 0.33.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last announced its earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $5.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.07 billion. American Electric Power had a return on equity of 10.46% and a net margin of 16.37%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.24 EPS. American Electric Power has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.150-6.450 EPS. On average, analysts predict that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 10th will be given a dividend of $0.95 per share. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 10th. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Electric Power

In other American Electric Power news, Director Benjamin G. S. Fowke III sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director owned 25,898 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,980,082.86. The trade was a 16.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of American Electric Power

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 2,763,328 shares in the last quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP boosted its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 176.3% in the 2nd quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 4,004,686 shares of the company’s stock valued at $415,526,000 after buying an additional 2,555,415 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position 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 valued at $225,718,000 after buying an additional 1,529,662 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake 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 worth $3,509,780,000 after acquiring an additional 1,514,865 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake 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 worth $286,692,000 after acquiring an additional 1,400,547 shares in the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.