5 Best Utilities Stocks to Buy for Dividends

4. American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 34

Forward Dividend Yield: 3.05% 

American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) operates as an electric public utility holding company. It has stepped up investments in the clean energy sector in recent months to reflect the broader trends in the industry. On March 15, the firm announced that it was seeking proposals for 500 MW of solar power in Indiana or Michigan and 800 MW of wind energy in those two states along with Illinois or Ohio. The company already operates five solar farms and expects a number of new renewable facilities to be online by 2024.

On March 29, Mizuho analyst Paul Fremont kept a Buy rating on American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) stock and raised the price target to $104 from $94, highlighting that the updated ratings reflected the higher capital spending and the reallocation of investments from renewables to the transmission business. 

At the end of the fourth quarter of 2021, 34 hedge funds in the database of Insider Monkey held stakes worth $827 million in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP), compared to 36 in the previous quarter worth $751 million.