First Financial Bankshares Inc Buys 12,987 Shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. $AEP

First Financial Bankshares Inc lifted its stake in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 646,071 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,987 shares during the period. American Electric Power makes up about 1.5% of First Financial Bankshares Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. First Financial Bankshares Inc owned about 0.12% of American Electric Power worth $74,498,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of American Electric Power by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 52,496,895 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,053,417,000 after acquiring an additional 828,588 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of American Electric Power by 1.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 28,922,911 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,253,827,000 after acquiring an additional 406,445 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in American Electric Power by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,823,744 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,587,841,000 after purchasing an additional 83,285 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in American Electric Power by 26.8% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,084,813 shares of the company’s stock valued at $684,772,000 after purchasing an additional 1,285,279 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC grew its position in American Electric Power by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen LLC now owns 5,776,865 shares of the company’s stock valued at $666,130,000 after purchasing an additional 139,590 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AEP has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of American Electric Power in a research report on Monday, June 1st. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $141.00 to $138.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $132.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $144.00 to $148.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Evercore raised their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $137.00 to $153.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $141.10.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

Shares of AEP opened at $128.48 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $131.33 and a 200-day moving average of $125.65. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a one year low of $100.72 and a one year high of $139.44. The company has a market cap of $69.91 billion, a PE ratio of 18.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.53 and a quick ratio of 0.39.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $6.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.72 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.54 EPS. The company’s quarterly 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, equities analysts forecast that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 6.35 earnings per share for the current year.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 8th were given a $0.95 dividend. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 8th. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 55.80%.

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.