American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) Short Interest Down 20.3% in December

American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) was the target of a significant drop in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totaling 18,048,525 shares, a drop of 20.3% from the December 15th total of 22,650,297 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,432,010 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.3 days. Approximately 3.4% of the shares of the company are short sold. Approximately 3.4% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,432,010 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.3 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Electric Power news, Director Benjamin G. S. Fowke III sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.07, for a total value of $575,350.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 25,898 shares in the company, valued at $2,980,082.86. The trade was a 16.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Electric Power

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AEP. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in American Electric Power by 0.4% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 52,467,779 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,444,057,000 after acquiring an additional 197,998 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 28,922,911 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,253,827,000 after purchasing an additional 406,445 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of American Electric Power by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,352,192 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,379,532,000 after purchasing an additional 285,000 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 5.9% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,802,211 shares of the company’s stock valued at $809,557,000 after buying an additional 432,441 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in American Electric Power by 26.8% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,084,813 shares of the company’s stock worth $684,772,000 after buying an additional 1,285,279 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AEP has been the subject of several research reports. Siebert Williams Shank began coverage on American Electric Power in a report on Thursday, December 18th. They set a “buy” rating and a $137.00 price objective for the company. Scotiabank increased their price target on American Electric Power from $121.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. Jefferies Financial Group raised American Electric Power from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $128.00 to $137.00 in a report on Monday, November 17th. Williams Trading set a $137.00 price objective on shares of American Electric Power in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded shares of American Electric Power to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $127.13.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

NASDAQ AEP opened at $119.96 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $117.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $114.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.53. American Electric Power has a 1 year low of $96.80 and a 1 year high of $124.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $64.07 billion, a PE ratio of 17.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.63.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $1.80 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.81 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $6.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.65 billion. American Electric Power had a return on equity of 11.00% and a net margin of 17.23%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.85 EPS. American Electric Power has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.850-5.95 EPS. Analysts predict that American Electric Power will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Monday, November 10th were paid a $0.95 dividend. This is an increase from American Electric Power’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 10th. American Electric Power’s payout ratio is 55.39%.

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.