Ameritas Advisory Services LLC Boosts Stock Position in American Electric Power Company, Inc. $AEP

Key Points

• Ameritas Advisory Services increased its stake in American Electric Power by 394.2% in the fourth quarter, ending with 14,163 shares valued at about $1.63 million.
• Institutional ownership remains very high, with hedge funds and other investors holding 75.24% of AEP shares. Several large firms, including Vanguard and State Street, also added to their positions.
• AEP reported better-than-expected Q1 results, posting EPS of $1.64 on revenue of $6.02 billion, and it reaffirmed a dividend of $0.95 per share for a 3.0% yield.

Ameritas Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP - Free Report) by 394.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 14,163 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 11,297 shares during the quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC's holdings in American Electric Power were worth $1,633,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in American Electric Power by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 52,496,895 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,053,417,000 after buying an additional 828,588 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in American Electric Power by 1.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 28,922,911 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,253,827,000 after acquiring an additional 406,445 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in American Electric Power by 26.8% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,084,813 shares of the company's stock valued at $684,772,000 after acquiring an additional 1,285,279 shares in the last quarter. 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its stake in American Electric Power by 8.0% in the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,223,848 shares of the company's stock valued at $587,683,000 after acquiring an additional 388,540 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.24% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on AEP shares. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $150.00 price objective on shares of American Electric Power in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $132.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of American Electric Power in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of American Electric Power from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $141.29.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Kelly J. Ferneau sold 1,351 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.46, for a total transaction of $177,602.46. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 15,410 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,025,798.60. This represents a 8.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Phillip R. Ulrich sold 4,106 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.08, for a total transaction of $542,320.48. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 42,263 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,582,097.04. This represents a 8.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.05% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

American Electric Power Price Performance

Shares of AEP opened at $128.60 on Friday. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $99.35 and a fifty-two week high of $139.44. The company has a market capitalization of $69.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.56. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $132.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $124.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.53.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.07. American Electric Power had a net margin of 16.29% and a return on equity of 10.21%. The business had revenue of $6.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.72 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.54 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. American Electric Power has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.120-6.420 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 6.35 earnings per share for the current year.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.95 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 8th. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. American Electric Power's dividend payout ratio is 55.80%.

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.

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