Meiji Yasuda America Inc Purchases New Stake in American Electric Power Company, Inc. $AEP

Meiji Yasuda America Inc purchased a new stake in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 36,698 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,232,000.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on AEP shares. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and set a $144.00 price target on shares of American Electric Power in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Seaport Research Partners upgraded shares of American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $145.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $150.00 target price on shares of American Electric Power in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $141.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $141.10.

American Electric Power Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AEP opened at $128.48 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $69.91 billion, a PE ratio of 18.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.53. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a twelve month low of $100.72 and a twelve month high of $139.44. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $131.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $125.65.

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

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 8th were issued 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 is presently 55.80%.

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.