Steph & Co. Raises Holdings in Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG)

Steph & Co. boosted its position in Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG) by 7.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,308 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 683 shares during the quarter. Steph & Co.’s holdings in Evergy were worth $573,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Evergy by 391.1% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 97,186 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,030,000 after buying an additional 77,398 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Evergy by 13.2% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 307,797 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,304,000 after acquiring an additional 35,940 shares in the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp raised its holdings in Evergy by 60.6% in the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 44,024 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,332,000 after acquiring an additional 16,619 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in Evergy by 34.0% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 945,148 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,609,000 after purchasing an additional 239,599 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can boosted its holdings in shares of Evergy by 29.1% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 997,832 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,806,000 after purchasing an additional 224,679 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.24% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Kevin E. Bryant sold 48,141 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.93, for a total transaction of $3,029,513.13. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $62.93. This represents a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 3.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group raised Evergy to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Mizuho assumed coverage on Evergy in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $67.00 price target on the stock. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Evergy from $67.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Evergy in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $70.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Evergy from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $64.06.

Evergy Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of EVRG stock opened at $61.68 on Thursday. Evergy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $48.04 and a 1-year high of $65.47. The firm has a market cap of $14.19 billion, a PE ratio of 16.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a 50-day moving average of $62.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $60.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.32.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.35 billion. Evergy had a net margin of 14.77% and a return on equity of 8.77%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.88 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Evergy, Inc. will post 3.84 EPS for the current year.

Evergy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st were issued a $0.6675 dividend. This represents a $2.67 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.33%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 21st. This is an increase from Evergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. Evergy’s payout ratio is currently 72.16%.

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.