American Electric Power Company, Inc. $AEP is Verbena Value LP’s 9th Largest Position

Verbena Value LP boosted its position in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 28.7% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 298,823 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 66,623 shares during the period. American Electric Power comprises approximately 6.4% of Verbena Value LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. Verbena Value LP’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $39,170,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Czech National Bank boosted its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 141,141 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,275,000 after buying an additional 5,314 shares during the last quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Electric Power in the fourth quarter worth $32,032,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH increased its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 293,033 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,869,000 after buying an additional 8,302 shares during the last quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in American Electric Power by 983.0% in the fourth quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 63,875 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,365,000 after acquiring an additional 57,977 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in American Electric Power by 17.7% in the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 63,526 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,325,000 after acquiring an additional 9,532 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on AEP. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $144.00 price objective on shares of American Electric Power in a report on Friday, May 8th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $147.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Barclays increased their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $135.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on American Electric Power from $148.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of American Electric Power in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, American Electric Power currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $141.38.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

NASDAQ AEP opened at $135.43 on Monday. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a one year low of $103.64 and a one year high of $140.58. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $131.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $128.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.69 billion, a PE ratio of 19.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.52.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.07. American Electric Power had a net margin of 16.29% and a return on equity of 10.21%. The firm had revenue of $6.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.72 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.54 earnings per share. American Electric Power’s quarterly revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. American Electric Power has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.120-6.420 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 6.35 earnings per share for the current year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 8th were given a dividend of $0.95 per share. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 8th. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio is presently 55.80%.

About American Electric Power

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.