Franklin Resources Inc. Grows Position in American Electric Power Company, Inc. $AEP

Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 4.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,374,046 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 54,045 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $158,441,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AEP. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in American Electric Power by 11.5% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 10,601 shares of the company’s stock worth $978,000 after buying an additional 1,095 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in American Electric Power during the first quarter worth $320,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its position in American Electric Power by 149.5% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,891 shares of the company’s stock worth $507,000 after buying an additional 2,931 shares in the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL increased its position in American Electric Power by 4.4% during the second quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 2,505 shares of the company’s stock worth $260,000 after buying an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AXA S.A. increased its position in American Electric Power by 95.7% during the second quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 79,111 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,209,000 after buying an additional 38,684 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group raised their price target on American Electric Power from $132.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Evercore raised their price target on American Electric Power from $137.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on American Electric Power from $136.00 to $129.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. TD Cowen raised their price objective on American Electric Power from $141.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $148.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, American Electric Power has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $141.10.

American Electric Power Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of AEP stock opened at $128.53 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $69.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.87, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.53. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 1-year low of $100.72 and a 1-year high of $139.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.53 and a quick ratio of 0.39. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $131.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $125.59.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $6.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.72 billion. American Electric Power had a net margin of 16.29% and a return on equity of 10.21%. The company’s revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.54 EPS. 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 EPS for the current year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 8th were issued a dividend of $0.95 per share. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 8th. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio is presently 55.80%.

American Electric Power Company 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.