Head-To-Head Survey: American Electric Power (AEP) and Its Competitors

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) is one of 103 public companies in the “Electric Utilities” industry, but how does it contrast to its competitors? We will compare American Electric Power to related companies based on the strength of its profitability, institutional ownership, dividends, analyst recommendations, valuation, earnings and risk.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

75.2% of American Electric Power shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 60.0% of shares of all “Electric Utilities” companies are held by institutional investors. 0.1% of American Electric Power shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 6.2% of shares of all “Electric Utilities” companies are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk & Volatility

American Electric Power has a beta of 0.46, suggesting that its share price is 54% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, American Electric Power’s competitors have a beta of -2.37, suggesting that their average share price is 337% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares American Electric Power and its competitors gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
American Electric Power	$23.61 billion	$3.58 billion	20.87
American Electric Power Competitors	$14.51 billion	$1.54 billion	20.12

American Electric Power has higher revenue and earnings than its competitors. American Electric Power is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Dividends

American Electric Power pays an annual dividend of $3.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. American Electric Power pays out 62.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Electric Utilities” companies pay a dividend yield of 3.1% and pay out 64.0% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. American Electric Power has raised its dividend for 15 consecutive years.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for American Electric Power and its competitors, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
American Electric Power	0	8	16	0	2.67
American Electric Power Competitors	1426	6543	5520	140	2.32

American Electric Power currently has a consensus target price of $139.83, indicating a potential upside of 8.22%. As a group, “Electric Utilities” companies have a potential upside of 4.02%. Given American Electric Power’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe American Electric Power is more favorable than its competitors.

Profitability

This table compares American Electric Power and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
American Electric Power	14.21%	10.52%	2.91%
American Electric Power Competitors	14.26%	9.78%	3.23%

Summary

American Electric Power beats its competitors on 10 of the 15 factors compared.

About American Electric Power

American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) is an electric utility holding company based in Columbus, Ohio. Through its regulated utility subsidiaries, it generates or purchases electricity and delivers power to residential, commercial and industrial customers. AEP’s operations include electric generation, transmission and distribution, with service territories across 11 states: Arkansas, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia.