Columbus, Ohio, May 19, 2026, 06:02 (EDT)
American Electric Power Co. picked up new institutional buyers Tuesday, with MarketBeat alerts flagging fourth-quarter buys from Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management, Allworth Financial, and Lockheed Martin Investment Management. But by March 31, updated SEC filings show those positions had fallen.
That’s getting attention as AEP faces a big capital push. The Columbus utility raised its five-year capital plan to $78 billion this month, with expected power load from data centers and big industrials set to hit 63 gigawatts by 2030. The company said gigawatts are the metric it uses for large power demand.
Form 13F filings aren’t live trading logs. These SEC reports come in once a quarter from big institutional managers, showing some holdings as of the quarter’s close. But the filings can lag by as much as 45 days.
Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management boosted its AEP stake in the fourth quarter by 600.9%, ending with 381,169 shares worth about $43.95 million, MarketBeat reported. Allworth Financial increased to 39,265 shares, up 27.7%. Lockheed Martin Investment Management added 153,100 shares for a total of 252,700 shares, valued at roughly $29.14 million.
March-quarter SEC filings are showing smaller numbers. Northwestern’s May 7 filing showed 63,747 AEP shares valued at $8.36 million. Allworth, in its May 15 filing, reported 30,476 shares for $3.99 million. Lockheed Martin Investment Management’s May 7 filing showed 101,000 shares worth $13.24 million.
AEP traded at $127.68 ahead of Tuesday’s U.S. cash open, valuing the utility at about $69.8 billion.
AEP reported first-quarter operating earnings per share rose to $1.64, up from $1.54 a year ago. CEO Bill Fehrman said there is “substantial demand growth” from data centers and other big customers. The company kept its 2026 operating earnings forecast at $6.15 to $6.45 a share. AEP
A few days after its earnings, AEP set the price for a registered offering at $127 a share with 20,472,442 shares sold through forward sale deals. That arrangement lets counterparties sell borrowed stock right away, while AEP gets cash at a later date. Underwriters then picked up another 3,070,866 shares through an option—pushing the total borrowed shares sold to 23,543,308, according to a later filing.
AEP wasn’t the only utility in play. Lockheed Martin Investment Management’s March 31 filing showed positions in Duke Energy, Southern Co and NextEra Energy too. Duke was a bigger holding than AEP at that point, Southern was about the same size, and NextEra was smaller.
Wall Street is leaning positive on AEP, but opinions are split, according to MarketBeat. TD Cowen upped its target to $148 and kept a buy, while JPMorgan stayed neutral at $140. Scotiabank held sector perform with a $140 target, and Raymond James went outperform at $144. MarketBeat’s composite shows a “Moderate Buy” call, average target $141.57. MarketBeat
AEP left its quarterly dividend at 95 cents per share. The payout is set for June 10 to shareholders on record May 8. MarketBeat alerts also pointed to February share sales from execs Kelly J. Ferneau and Phillip R. Ulrich. Insider ownership is listed at 0.05% of the company.
But the signals only go so far. The 13F filings are old snapshots and leave out motives or hedges, and AEP’s forward sale could hit earnings per share if physical settlement happens. The bigger buildout also hangs on project execution, needed regulatory approvals, and whether the company can get costs back from customers.
