Verus Financial Partners Inc. Trims Position in American Electric Power Company, Inc. $AEP

Verus Financial Partners Inc. lessened its position in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 4.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,144 shares of the company’s stock after selling 105 shares during the quarter. Verus Financial Partners Inc.’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $225,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in American Electric Power by 1.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 52,269,781 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,711,519,000 after acquiring an additional 579,175 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in American Electric Power by 24.3% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 22,102,537 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,415,144,000 after buying an additional 4,323,569 shares in the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC increased its position in American Electric Power by 30.4% in the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 19,631,466 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,145,130,000 after buying an additional 4,570,941 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in American Electric Power by 8.0% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,237,782 shares of the company’s stock worth $572,332,000 after buying an additional 386,518 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in American Electric Power in the first quarter worth about $568,042,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Benjamin G. S. Fowke III sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.65, for a total transaction of $543,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 40,898 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,443,567.70. This represents a 10.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on AEP. UBS Group upped their price target on American Electric Power from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on American Electric Power from $117.00 to $115.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $122.00 price target (up previously from $115.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH reduced their price target on American Electric Power from $112.00 to $108.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on American Electric Power from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $111.63.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AEP opened at $113.46 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 12-month low of $89.91 and a 12-month high of $115.36. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $110.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $106.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $60.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.48.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.16. American Electric Power had a return on equity of 11.55% and a net margin of 17.68%.The company had revenue of $5.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.85 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.25 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. American Electric Power has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.570-6.770 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Friday, August 8th were paid a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 8th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.39%.

About American Electric Power

American Electric Power Company, Inc, an electric public utility holding company, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity for sale to retail and wholesale customers in the United States. It operates through Vertically Integrated Utilities, Transmission and Distribution Utilities, AEP Transmission Holdco, and Generation & Marketing segments.