American Electric Power’s (AEP) Buy (B) Rating Reiterated at Weiss Ratings

Weiss Ratings reiterated their buy (b) rating on shares of American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) in a research note released on Wednesday morning,Weiss Ratings reports.

AEP has been the subject of several other reports. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $122.00 price objective (up from $115.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on American Electric Power in a report on Monday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $133.00 price objective for the company. Barclays lifted their price objective on American Electric Power from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on American Electric Power from $120.00 to $116.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on American Electric Power from $117.00 to $115.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $114.50.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

Shares of AEP stock opened at $117.04 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $111.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $107.13. The stock has a market cap of $62.59 billion, a PE ratio of 17.11, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.48. American Electric Power has a 1 year low of $89.91 and a 1 year high of $119.06. 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) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $5.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.85 billion. American Electric Power had a return on equity of 11.55% and a net margin of 17.68%.American Electric Power’s revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.25 earnings per share. American Electric Power has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.570-6.770 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 8th were given a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 8th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. American Electric Power’s payout ratio is currently 54.39%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Kelly J. Ferneau sold 1,006 shares of American Electric Power stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.00, for a total value of $112,672.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 5,676 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $635,712. The trade was a 15.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Benjamin G. S. Fowke III sold 5,000 shares of American Electric Power stock in a transaction on Friday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.65, for a total value of $543,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 40,898 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,443,567.70. This represents a 10.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.07% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Electric Power

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of American Electric Power by 14.8% in the first quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,331 shares of the company’s stock valued at $364,000 after purchasing an additional 430 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management purchased a new stake in American Electric Power during the first quarter valued at about $262,000. Venture Visionary Partners LLC grew its position in American Electric Power by 7.3% during the second quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC now owns 68,233 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,080,000 after acquiring an additional 4,616 shares during the period. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in American Electric Power during the first quarter valued at about $205,000. Finally, SteelPeak Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in American Electric Power during the second quarter valued at about $7,722,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

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.