314,500 Shares in American Electric Power Company, Inc. $AEP Purchased by VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new stake in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 314,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,027,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Electric Power in the 4th quarter worth about $32,032,000. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of American Electric Power during the second quarter worth about $6,980,601,000. Dockside LLC bought a new position in shares of American Electric Power during the fourth quarter worth about $1,912,000. Barclays PLC grew its stake in American Electric Power by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 10,626,841 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,225,381,000 after purchasing an additional 57,807 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aigen Investment Management LP bought a new stake in American Electric Power in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,318,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on AEP shares. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on American Electric Power from $141.00 to $139.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Truist Financial decreased their target price on American Electric Power from $146.00 to $139.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Barclays lowered their price target on American Electric Power from $138.00 to $129.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of American Electric Power in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH reduced their price objective on American Electric Power from $148.00 to $143.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Electric Power has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $140.19.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AEP opened at $124.50 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $129.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $130.56. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 52-week low of $105.70 and a 52-week high of $140.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $67.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.51.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.48 by ($0.12). The company had revenue of $5.45 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.34 billion. American Electric Power had a net margin of 13.78% and a return on equity of 9.95%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.43 earnings per share. American Electric Power has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.250-6.550 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 6.39 earnings per share for the current year.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.95 per share. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 10th. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.18%.

American Electric Power Profile

American Electric Power (NASDAQ: AEP) is a major investor-owned electric utility headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. The company is primarily engaged in the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity, operating a diverse portfolio of power plants and an extensive high-voltage transmission network. AEP serves retail customers through its regulated utility subsidiaries and provides wholesale power and grid services across multiple regional markets in the United States.

Operations span the full utility value chain: AEP owns and operates generation assets that include fossil-fuel, natural gas, nuclear and hydropower facilities, and it has been adding renewable resources to its mix.