Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC Boosts Holdings in American Electric Power Company, Inc. $AEP

Key Points

• Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its holdings in American Electric Power by 22.2%, owning 60,701 shares valued at approximately $6.63 million at the end of the 1st quarter.
• American Electric Power reported $1.43 earnings per share for the latest quarter, exceeding forecasts, and achieved a revenue of $5.09 billion, which was also above estimates.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.93, translating to an annualized yield of 3.4%, with a payout ratio of 54.39%.

Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP - Free Report) by 22.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 60,701 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 11,046 shares during the quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC's holdings in American Electric Power were worth $6,633,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of American Electric Power by 1.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 52,269,781 shares of the company's stock worth $5,711,519,000 after buying an additional 579,175 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC increased its position in shares of American Electric Power by 30.4% during the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 19,631,466 shares of the company's stock worth $2,145,130,000 after buying an additional 4,570,941 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in American Electric Power by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 7,047,428 shares of the company's stock worth $649,983,000 after acquiring an additional 85,756 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in American Electric Power by 51.0% during the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 6,416,474 shares of the company's stock worth $591,791,000 after acquiring an additional 2,165,888 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new position in American Electric Power during the first quarter worth $568,042,000. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AEP has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $102.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $114.00 to $113.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Mizuho set a $116.00 target price on shares of American Electric Power and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $107.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $111.29.

American Electric Power Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of American Electric Power stock traded up $0.88 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $114.02. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,389,022 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,646,117. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a one year low of $89.91 and a one year high of $115.36. The company has a market capitalization of $60.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.67, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.40. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $107.77 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $105.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.55.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP - Get Free Report) last released 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. The firm had revenue of $5.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.85 billion. American Electric Power had a net margin of 17.68% and a return on equity of 11.55%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.25 earnings per share. American Electric Power has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.570-6.770 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at American Electric Power

In other news, EVP David Matthew Feinberg sold 8,058 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.74, for a total value of $819,820.92. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 10,274 shares in the company, valued at $1,045,276.76. This represents a 43.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 24,173 shares of company stock valued at $2,467,015 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company's stock.

American Electric Power Company Profile

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.