American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) Lowered to “Sell” Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday morning.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on AEP. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on American Electric Power from $125.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Bank of America lowered American Electric Power from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $131.00 to $122.00 in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $111.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $133.00 target price on shares of American Electric Power in a report on Friday. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $114.00 to $107.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Electric Power currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $131.28.

American Electric Power Price Performance

American Electric Power stock opened at $129.37 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.45. American Electric Power has a 52 week low of $97.46 and a 52 week high of $132.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $69.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.62. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $119.00 and a 200-day moving average of $116.54.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The company reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.04. American Electric Power had a return on equity of 10.46% and a net margin of 16.37%.The firm had revenue of $5.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.24 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. American Electric Power has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.150-6.450 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that American Electric Power will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 10th will be given a dividend of $0.95 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 10th. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.72%.

Insider Transactions at American Electric Power

In other American Electric Power news, Director Benjamin G. S. Fowke III sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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. This trade represents a 16.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of American Electric Power

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Activest Wealth Management boosted its holdings in American Electric Power by 72.2% during the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 217 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in American Electric Power in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of American Electric Power during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 330.2% in the third quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 228 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Optima Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Electric Power in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.