American Electric Power Company, Inc.
- Open
- 136.87
- Day high
- 137.18
- Day low
- 136.13
- Prev close
- 136.81
- Volume
- 322K
- Mkt cap
- $74.4B
- P/E (TTM)
- 20.1
- EPS (TTM)
- $6.81
- P/B
- 2.3
- P/S
- 3.4
- Yield
- 2.76%
- Per share
- $3.78
American Electric Power Company, Inc. (AEP) is a Utilities company listed on NASDAQ. The stock is up 31% over the past year. Drillr has 1 published research article covering AEP.
American Electric Power Company, Inc. (AEP) financials & analyst ratings
Fundamentals (TTM)
Analyst consensus · 11 analysts
Source: exchange market data + company filings. Figures are trailing-twelve-month or as most recently reported. For informational purposes only — not investment advice.
AEP earnings date, history & EPS estimates
| Report date | EPS est | EPS actual | Surprise | Revenue | Rev. surprise |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 5, 2026 | $1.57 | $1.64 | +4.5% | $6.0B | +5.3% |
| Feb 12, 2026 | $1.15 | $1.19 | +3.5% | $5.0B | +3.2% |
| Oct 29, 2025 | $1.81 | $1.80 | -0.6% | $6.0B | +5.2% |
| Jul 30, 2025 | $1.27 | $1.43 | +12.6% | $5.1B | +2.5% |
| Feb 13, 2025 | $1.25 | $1.24 | -0.8% | $4.7B | -4.3% |
| Apr 30, 2024 | $1.25 | $1.27 | +1.6% | $5.0B | +0.1% |
| Feb 26, 2024 | $1.27 | $1.23 | -3.1% | $4.6B | -9.6% |
| Nov 2, 2023 | $1.70 | $1.77 | +4.1% | $5.3B | -0.8% |
| Jul 27, 2023 | $1.12 | $1.13 | +0.9% | $4.4B | -7.0% |
| May 4, 2023 | $1.14 | $1.11 | -2.6% | $4.7B | -0.3% |
| Feb 23, 2023 | $0.99 | $1.05 | +6.1% | $4.9B | +38.9% |
| Oct 27, 2022 | $1.56 | $1.62 | +3.8% | $5.5B | +16.2% |
AEP insider trading activity (SEC Form 4)
| Date | Insider | Type | Shares | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 5, 2026 | Cannon Douglas Aofficer: President AEP Transmission | Tax | 1,770 | $136.91 |
| May 5, 2026 | Hall Greg Bofficer: Executive Vice President | Tax | 4,306 | $136.91 |
| May 5, 2026 | Dixon Kateofficer: Controller, CAO | Tax | 636 | $136.91 |
| Apr 2, 2026 | McCarthy Margaret Mdirector | Grant | 0 | — |
| Apr 2, 2026 | GARY HUNTER CLARKdirector | Grant | 0 | — |
| Apr 2, 2026 | LIN SANDRA BEACHdirector | Grant | 0 | — |
| Apr 2, 2026 | Linginfelter Henry Pdirector | Grant | 0 | — |
| Apr 2, 2026 | Von Thaer Lewisdirector | Grant | 0 | — |
| Apr 2, 2026 | GARCIA ART Adirector | Grant | 0 | — |
| Apr 2, 2026 | Tucker Sara Martinezdirector | Grant | 0 | — |
| Apr 2, 2026 | Roberts Daryldirector | Grant | 0 | — |
| Apr 2, 2026 | FOWKE BENJAMIN G S IIIdirector | Grant | 0 | — |
| Apr 2, 2026 | Stoddard Daniel G.director | Grant | 0 | $131.08 |
| Apr 2, 2026 | Sauvage Joseph Gdirector | Grant | 0 | — |
| Mar 12, 2026 | MIHALIK TREVOR Iofficer: Executive VP & CFO | Grant | 61 | $132.31 |
Source: AEP SEC Form 4 filings, latest May 5, 2026. For informational purposes only — not investment advice.
See the full AEP insider & 13F page →American Electric Power Company, Inc. company profile
Overview
American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) is one of the largest electric utilities in the United States, serving approximately 5.5 million customers across 11 states. Founded in 1906 and headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, AEP has evolved from a regional power company into a major regulated electric utility holding company. The company operates through four primary business segments: Vertically Integrated Utilities, Transmission and Distribution Utilities, AEP Transmission Holdco, and Generation & Marketing. AEP is currently experiencing significant transformation driven by unprecedented demand growth, particularly from data centers and industrial customers, leading to ambitious capital investment plans totaling $54 billion through 2029.
Business
AEP operates in the regulated electric utility industry, which involves the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity under state and federal regulatory oversight. The company's business is structured around four main segments that collectively serve the electricity value chain from power generation to end-customer delivery. The Vertically Integrated Utilities segment represents AEP's traditional utility operations, accounting for approximately 47% of operating earnings. This segment owns and operates the complete electricity supply chain - power plants that generate electricity, high-voltage transmission lines that carry power across regions, and local distribution networks that deliver electricity to homes and businesses. These utilities operate in states like Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. The Transmission and Distribution Utilities segment, contributing roughly 27% of operating earnings, focuses primarily on the "wires" business without significant generation assets. These utilities purchase electricity from wholesale markets and deliver it to customers through their transmission and distribution networks. This segment primarily serves customers in Arkansas and Ohio. AEP Transmission Holdco, representing about 27% of operating earnings, owns and operates high-voltage transmission infrastructure that moves electricity across state lines and between utilities. This segment operates under federal regulation and includes participation in regional transmission organizations like PJM Interconnection and the Southwest Power Pool. The Generation & Marketing segment, the smallest at roughly 9% of operating earnings, includes competitive generation assets and wholesale power marketing activities. This segment operates power plants that sell electricity into competitive wholesale markets rather than serving captive retail customers. AEP generates electricity using a diverse fuel mix including natural gas, coal, nuclear, wind, solar, and hydroelectric sources. The company is actively transitioning toward cleaner energy sources, targeting an 80% reduction in carbon emissions by 2030 and net-zero emissions by 2045.
Revenue model
AEP generates revenue primarily through regulated utility operations, where rates are set by state public utility commissions and federal regulators. The company's business model is based on cost-of-service regulation, where utilities are allowed to recover their prudently incurred costs plus earn a regulated return on invested capital. Revenue streams include retail electricity sales to residential, commercial, and industrial customers at regulated rates, wholesale electricity sales to other utilities and market participants, and transmission services that charge fees for moving electricity across the grid. The transmission business is particularly attractive because it operates under federal regulation with more predictable returns and faster cost recovery mechanisms. AEP's customers are primarily retail electricity consumers who have no choice of utility provider in their service territory, creating a natural monopoly with stable, predictable cash flows. The company also serves wholesale customers including rural electric cooperatives, municipalities, and other utilities. Several factors influence AEP's profitability margins. Regulatory decisions on allowed returns on equity directly impact earnings, with the company currently working to improve returns across its jurisdictions from the current average of around 9.1%. Load growth significantly enhances profitability by spreading fixed costs over more kilowatt-hours sold - AEP is experiencing exceptional commercial load growth of over 12% annually, driven primarily by data center development. Fuel costs and environmental compliance expenses can pressure margins, though these are typically recoverable through rate mechanisms. Interest rates affect the company's financing costs for its capital-intensive business, while inflation impacts construction and operational costs. The company's ongoing transition to renewable energy sources requires substantial capital investment but positions AEP for long-term regulatory and environmental compliance.
Competitive moat
AEP possesses a strong economic moat based on its regulated monopoly status and essential service provision. The company operates natural monopolies in its service territories, where the high capital requirements and regulatory barriers make new entry virtually impossible. Customers cannot choose alternative electricity providers, creating captive demand for AEP's services. The regulatory framework provides significant protection, as state and federal regulators generally ensure utilities can recover prudently incurred costs and earn reasonable returns on invested capital. This regulatory compact provides earnings stability even during economic downturns, as electricity demand is relatively inelastic. AEP's transmission assets represent a particularly strong moat component. The company's extensive high-voltage transmission network creates natural barriers to competition, as building duplicate infrastructure would be economically inefficient and face significant regulatory and environmental hurdles. The transmission business also benefits from federal regulation, which typically provides more favorable cost recovery mechanisms than state regulation. The company's scale and operational expertise in managing complex electrical systems across multiple states creates additional competitive advantages. AEP's ability to coordinate generation, transmission, and distribution across its large footprint provides operational efficiencies and system reliability benefits that would be difficult for smaller competitors to replicate. However, the moat faces some challenges. Regulatory risk remains significant, as unfavorable rate decisions or policy changes could impact returns. The ongoing energy transition requires substantial capital investment with uncertain regulatory recovery, particularly for stranded fossil fuel assets. Distributed energy resources like rooftop solar and battery storage could potentially reduce customer dependence on the centralized grid over time, though this threat remains largely theoretical given current technology costs and grid reliability requirements.
Risks & safety
AEP presents a moderate margin of safety with some financial constraints due to its capital-intensive growth plans. **Overall Assessment:** The company maintains adequate liquidity but faces financing challenges from aggressive capital spending plans. **Cash and Debt Metrics:** - Cash and short-term investments: $257 million (Q1 2025) - Total debt-to-equity ratio: 1.72 (elevated but typical for utilities) - Current ratio: 0.42 (below 1.0, indicating potential liquidity constraints) - Free cash flow: -$686 million (Q1 2025), reflecting heavy capital investment phase - Operating cash flow: $1.45 billion (Q1 2025), positive but insufficient to cover capital expenditures **Valuation Metrics:** - P/E ratio: 18.2x (reasonable for a utility) - EV/EBITDA: 21.4x (elevated, reflecting growth expectations) - Price-to-book: 2.13x (premium to book value) - Return on equity: 2.9% (currently depressed, targeting improvement) **Other Considerations:** - Regulatory support for $54 billion capital plan provides revenue visibility - Strong load growth commitments (20 gigawatts by 2030) support investment case - Potential need for additional equity financing creates dilution risk - Interest rate sensitivity given high debt levels and capital requirements
Recent development
AEP has undergone significant strategic evolution over the past few years, positioning itself to capitalize on unprecedented electricity demand growth while transitioning to cleaner energy sources. The most transformative development is the company's aggressive pursuit of data center and industrial load growth. AEP has secured commitments for approximately 20 gigawatts of new load by 2030, primarily from data center customers including hyperscale cloud providers. This represents one of the largest load additions in the utility industry, with commercial load growing over 12% annually. The company has filed specialized data center tariffs across multiple states to ensure existing customers aren't negatively impacted while welcoming this high-value load growth. AEP dramatically expanded its capital investment program from a previous $43 billion five-year plan to $54 billion for 2025-2029, with potential for an additional $10 billion in incremental investments. This 25% increase reflects the infrastructure requirements to serve new load growth and modernize the grid. The capital plan focuses heavily on transmission infrastructure, followed by generation and distribution investments. The company has pursued portfolio optimization by divesting non-core assets, including the sale of its unregulated renewables portfolio for $1.2 billion and the divestiture of Kentucky Power operations. These transactions allow AEP to focus on its core regulated utility operations while generating capital for reinvestment. Regulatory strategy has evolved to emphasize stakeholder engagement and collaborative approaches with state regulators. AEP is working to improve its earned returns on equity across jurisdictions, targeting movement from the current 9.1% average toward more appropriate levels. The company is also exploring innovative financing mechanisms including securitization and hybrid securities to fund growth while maintaining balance sheet strength. Leadership transition occurred with Ben Fowke serving as interim CEO before Bill Furman's appointment as President and CEO in 2024. The company has also enhanced its board composition following engagement with activist investor Carl Icahn, who added two board seats in 2023.
AEP company profile · for informational purposes only — not investment advice.
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