Bridgewater Advisors Inc. Makes New Investment in American Electric Power Company, Inc. $AEP

Bridgewater Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 7,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $896,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in American Electric Power by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 52,496,895 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,053,417,000 after purchasing an additional 828,588 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in American Electric Power by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 30,437,776 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,509,780,000 after buying an additional 1,514,865 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 14,661,858 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,690,659,000 after buying an additional 271,879 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of American Electric Power by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,823,744 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,587,841,000 after acquiring an additional 83,285 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of American Electric Power by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 10,626,841 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,225,381,000 after acquiring an additional 57,807 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on AEP. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH dropped their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $148.00 to $143.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Seaport Research Partners upgraded American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $145.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, April 20th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on American Electric Power from $131.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $144.00 price target on shares of American Electric Power in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of American Electric Power from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $140.71.

American Electric Power Stock Up 0.2%

NASDAQ:AEP opened at $125.60 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.52. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a twelve month low of $105.70 and a twelve month high of $140.58. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $131.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $130.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.48 by ($0.12). The company had revenue of $5.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.34 billion. American Electric Power had a net margin of 13.78% and a return on equity of 9.95%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.43 EPS. American Electric Power has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.250-6.550 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 6.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 10th will be paid a $0.95 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 10th. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.18%.

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.