Victory Capital Management Inc. Increases Holdings in American Electric Power Company, Inc. $AEP

Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 17.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 6,316,688 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 937,346 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $728,378,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Root Financial Partners LLC raised its holdings in American Electric Power by 15.0% in the 4th quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 638 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the period. Baron Silver Stevens Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in American Electric Power by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Baron Silver Stevens Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,177 shares of the company’s stock worth $251,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the period. Vectors Research Management LLC raised its holdings in American Electric Power by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Vectors Research Management LLC now owns 23,439 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,703,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the period. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC now owns 1,497 shares of the company’s stock worth $173,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the period. Finally, Trueblood Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,937 shares of the company’s stock worth $800,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

American Electric Power Price Performance

Shares of American Electric Power stock opened at $129.23 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.53. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $131.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $125.67. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a twelve month low of $100.72 and a twelve month high of $139.44. The firm has a market cap of $70.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.53.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.72 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.54 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. American Electric Power has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.120-6.420 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 6.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 8th were given a dividend of $0.95 per share. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 8th. American Electric Power’s payout ratio is 55.80%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore boosted their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $137.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $132.00 to $135.00 in a report on Monday, March 9th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of American Electric Power from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $142.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, February 13th. Argus boosted their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $128.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $141.00 to $138.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Electric Power currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $141.10.

American Electric Power 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.