American Electric Power Company, Inc. $AEP Shares Sold by Epoch Investment Partners Inc.

Key Points

• Epoch Investment Partners Inc. has reduced its holdings in American Electric Power by 4.6%, selling 39,258 shares and owning about 0.15% of the company, valued at $88.4 million.
• American Electric Power recently achieved a quarterly EPS of $1.43, surpassing estimates by $0.16, and reported significant revenue growth of 11.1% year-over-year, totaling $5.09 billion.
• AEP declared a quarterly dividend of $0.93, with a 3.3% dividend yield and a dividend payout ratio of 54.39% for shareholders of record on August 8th.

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP - Free Report) by 4.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 809,814 shares of the company's stock after selling 39,258 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. owned about 0.15% of American Electric Power worth $88,488,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AEP. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 11.5% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 10,601 shares of the company's stock worth $978,000 after purchasing an additional 1,095 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in American Electric Power by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 763,780 shares of the company's stock worth $70,444,000 after purchasing an additional 13,684 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC raised its stake in American Electric Power by 323.0% during the fourth quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 42,114 shares of the company's stock worth $3,884,000 after purchasing an additional 32,158 shares during the period. Johnson Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of American Electric Power by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,446 shares of the company's stock worth $339,000 after acquiring an additional 324 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP boosted its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 18.0% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,788 shares of the company's stock valued at $165,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares during the period. 75.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $107.00 to $114.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $102.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Barclays upped their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of American Electric Power in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $102.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $111.29.

Insider Transactions at American Electric Power

In related news, EVP David Matthew Feinberg sold 8,058 shares of American Electric Power stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.74, for a total transaction of $819,820.92. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 10,274 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,045,276.76. The trade was a 43.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders sold 24,173 shares of company stock worth $2,467,015 over the last quarter. 0.07% of the stock is owned by insiders.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AEP traded down $1.11 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $111.78. 3,697,314 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,371,490. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 52 week low of $89.91 and a 52 week high of $115.36. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $108.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $105.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.41. The company has a market cap of $59.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.34, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.40.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.16. American Electric Power had a net margin of 17.68% and a return on equity of 11.55%. The business had revenue of $5.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.85 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.25 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. American Electric Power has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.570-6.770 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Friday, August 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 8th. American Electric Power's payout ratio is currently 54.39%.

About American Electric Power

American Electric Power Company, Inc, an electric public utility holding company, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity for sale to retail and wholesale customers in the United States. It operates through Vertically Integrated Utilities, Transmission and Distribution Utilities, AEP Transmission Holdco, and Generation & Marketing segments.