Bank of America Downgrades American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) to Neutral

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) was downgraded by investment analysts at Bank of America from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report issued on Monday, Marketbeat reports. They currently have a $122.00 price objective on the stock, down from their prior price objective of $131.00. Bank of America‘s price target suggests a potential upside of 4.61% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Williams Trading set a $137.00 price target on American Electric Power in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Siebert Williams Shank assumed coverage on shares of American Electric Power in a report on Thursday, December 18th. They set a “buy” rating and a $137.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $121.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of American Electric Power in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $111.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $127.29.

American Electric Power Trading Up 0.0%

NASDAQ AEP opened at $116.62 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The firm has a market cap of $62.29 billion, a PE ratio of 17.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $118.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $113.77. American Electric Power has a 52 week low of $93.43 and a 52 week high of $124.80.

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

Insider Activity

In related 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 completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of American Electric Power

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of American Electric Power by 105.6% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,379,342 shares of the company’s stock worth $595,243,000 after purchasing an additional 2,763,328 shares in the last quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP boosted its stake in American Electric Power by 176.3% during the 2nd quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 4,004,686 shares of the company’s stock worth $415,526,000 after purchasing an additional 2,555,415 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 357.5% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,957,491 shares of the company’s stock worth $225,718,000 after buying an additional 1,529,662 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of American Electric Power by 118.2% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,585,605 shares of the company’s stock valued at $286,692,000 after buying an additional 1,400,547 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 26.8% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,084,813 shares of the company’s stock worth $684,772,000 after buying an additional 1,285,279 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

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.