Here’s What Makes American Electric Power (AEP) a Great Investment Pick

ClearBridge Investments, an investment management firm, published its “Value Equity Strategy” first quarter 2022 investor letter – a copy of which can be downloaded here. The ClearBridge Value Equity Strategy outperformed its Russell 1000 Value Index during the first quarter. On an absolute basis, the Strategy had losses across six of the 11 sectors in which it was invested during the quarter. The leading detractors were the consumer discretionary and industrials sectors, while the leading contributor was the energy sector. Try to spend some time taking a look at the fund’s top 5 holdings to be informed about their best picks for 2022.

In its Q1 2022 investor letter, ClearBridge Investments Value Equity mentioned American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) and explained its insights for the company. Founded in 1906, American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)  is a Columbus, Ohio-based retail electricity and natural gas supply provider with a $50.2 billion market capitalization. American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)  delivered a 11.87% return since the beginning of the year, while its 12-month returns are up by 12.99%. The stock closed at $99.53 per share on April 27, 2022.

Here is what ClearBridge Investments Value Equity has to say about American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) in its Q1 2022 investor letter:

“About 5% of the portfolio is in transitioning power companies, typically migrating from coal to renewables. We have been active in encouraging these transitions and added a new position in American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP). AEP has the fastest planned renewable energy ramp in the U.S., with plans to both shrink coal and grow renewables by 50% each by 2030. This would drive an 80% emissions reduction, while supporting high single-digit earnings growth at a double-digit return.”

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Our calculations show that American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) fell short and didn’t make it on our list of the 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) was in 34 hedge fund portfolios at the end of the fourth quarter of 2021, compared to 36 funds in the previous quarter. American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) delivered a 11.33% return in the past 3 months.

In April 2022, we published an article that includes American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) in 10 Blue Chip Dividend Stocks with Over 3% Yield. You can find other investor letters from hedge funds and prominent investors on our hedge fund investor letters 2022 Q1 page.

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.