AEP Stock Rides on Investments Despite High Interest Rates

American Electric Power Company, Inc. AEP is deploying systematic investments in infrastructural upgrades to enhance the reliability of its operations and serve its utility customers efficiently. The company is also making consistent investments to boost its renewable generation portfolio.

However, this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company faces risks like rising interest rates and an unfavorable financial position, which act as a headwind.

AEP's Tailwinds

American Electric has a capital investment plan of $43 billion for the 2024-2028 period in its core regulated operations, contracted renewables and wires. This should boost AEP's customer reliability. The company expects this systematic investment to support it in achieving long-term earnings growth of 6-7%.

Moreover, American Electric intends to invest roughly $27.3 billion in its transmission and distribution operations between 2024 and 2028 to build a more efficient grid and provide consumers with customized energy solutions.

In the clean energy space, as of June 30, 2024, AEP has regulatory nods from several state regulatory commissions to purchase 2,811 megawatts of owned renewable generation facilities for a total estimated cost of $6.6 billion. It plans to invest $9.4 billion in controlled renewable expansion between 2024 and 2028. This should further boost its renewable generation portfolio in the years to come.

Headwinds Faced by AEP

Since utility firms like American Electric Power finance their operations through both short and long-term borrowings, the increased interest rate environment in the United States remains a headwind for AEP in the form of higher interest expenses. In the second quarter of 2024, the company's interest expenditure increased by 1.2% year over year. If American Electric continues to face such escalating interest costs, it might adversely affect its financial situation in the near future.

As of June 30, 2024, American Electric had $40 billion in long-term debt, while its cash equivalents totaled $0.47 billion. As of the same date, its current debt was $3.75 billion. As both AEP's current and long-term debt levels remained far greater than its cash reserve, the company seems to have a weak position with respect to its solvency.

AEP Stock Price Movement

In the past three months, shares of AEP have risen 11.8% compared with the industry's growth of 3.6%.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Stocks to Consider

Some better-ranked stocks from the same industry are DTE Energy Company DTE, The AES Corporation AES and NiSource Inc. NI, each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present.

DTE Energy's long-term (three to five years) earnings growth rate is 8.1%. The company delivered an average earnings surprise of 0.77% in the last four quarters.

AES delivered an average earnings surprise of 19.18% in the last four quarters. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for AES' 2024 sales suggests an improvement of 3.6% from the prior-year reported figure.

NiSource's long-term earnings growth rate is 6%. The company delivered an average earnings surprise of 20.64% in the last four quarters.

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