American Electric Power Company, Inc. $AEP Shares Bought by Benjamin Edwards Inc.

Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its holdings in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 228.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 51,659 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 35,938 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $5,812,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in American Electric Power by 12.7% during the 2nd quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 791 shares of the company’s stock valued at $82,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the period. Gilbert & Cook Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 2.3% in the second quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 4,036 shares of the company’s stock valued at $419,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Strategies LLC increased its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 1.7% during the second quarter. Eagle Strategies LLC now owns 5,515 shares of the company’s stock valued at $572,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares during the period. Graves Light Lenhart Wealth Inc. increased its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 1.5% during the third quarter. Graves Light Lenhart Wealth Inc. now owns 6,870 shares of the company’s stock valued at $773,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the period. Finally, Advantage Trust Co raised its holdings in American Electric Power by 57.1% during the second quarter. Advantage Trust Co now owns 275 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

American Electric Power Stock Up 0.8%

NASDAQ:AEP opened at $116.91 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $118.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $113.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $62.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.04, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 1-year low of $92.67 and a 1-year high of $124.80.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $1.80 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $6.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.65 billion. American Electric Power had a net margin of 17.23% and a return on equity of 11.00%. American Electric Power’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.85 EPS. American Electric Power has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.850-5.95 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 10th were given a $0.95 dividend. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 10th. This is a positive change from American Electric Power’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. American Electric Power’s payout ratio is currently 55.39%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Benjamin G. S. Fowke III sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.07, for a total transaction of $575,350.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 25,898 shares in the company, valued at $2,980,082.86. The trade was a 16.18% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.07% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on AEP shares. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of American Electric Power in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on American Electric Power from $132.00 to $139.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Citigroup lifted their target price on American Electric Power from $111.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $128.00 to $133.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $111.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, American Electric Power has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $126.87.

About American Electric Power

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.