Evergy, Inc. (NYSE:EVRG) Shares Sold by Wasatch Advisors LP

Wasatch Advisors LP lessened its holdings in Evergy, Inc. (NYSE:EVRG) by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 65,127 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,523 shares during the quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP’s holdings in Evergy were worth $4,039,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in Evergy by 38.6% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,683,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $195,089,000 after acquiring an additional 1,026,374 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in Evergy by 18.8% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 3,490,674 shares of the company’s stock worth $184,901,000 after acquiring an additional 552,455 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in Evergy by 6,854.6% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 2,539,001 shares of the company’s stock worth $157,443,000 after acquiring an additional 2,502,493 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Evergy by 42.3% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,135,011 shares of the company’s stock worth $132,392,000 after purchasing an additional 634,735 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Evergy in the second quarter worth about $112,464,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.24% of the company’s stock.

Evergy Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of EVRG stock opened at $64.63 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $61.82 and a 200 day moving average of $58.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The stock has a market cap of $14.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.62. Evergy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $48.04 and a twelve month high of $65.47.

Evergy (NYSE:EVRG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.35 billion. Evergy had a return on equity of 8.77% and a net margin of 14.77%. Evergy’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.88 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Evergy, Inc. will post 3.84 EPS for the current year.

Evergy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.6675 dividend. This is a positive change from Evergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. This represents a $2.67 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Evergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.16%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on EVRG. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Evergy in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. Mizuho began coverage on Evergy in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $67.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Evergy from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Evergy from $67.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Evergy to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Evergy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $61.88.

Insider Buying and Selling at Evergy

In other Evergy news, EVP Kevin E. Bryant sold 48,141 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.93, for a total value of $3,029,513.13. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $62.93. This trade represents a 100.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Charles A. Caisley sold 9,236 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.63, for a total value of $550,742.68. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 33,425 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,993,132.75. The trade was a 21.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.47% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Evergy

Evergy, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, transmission, distribution, and sale of electricity in the United States. The company generates electricity through coal, landfill gas, uranium, and natural gas and oil sources, as well as solar, wind, other renewable sources. It serves residences, commercial firms, industrials, municipalities, and other electric utilities.