Park Avenue Securities LLC Reduces Position in Evergy, Inc. (NYSE:EVRG)

Park Avenue Securities LLC trimmed its stake in Evergy, Inc. (NYSE:EVRG) by 16.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,174 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,228 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Evergy were worth $330,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of EVRG. CTC Alternative Strategies Ltd. bought a new stake in Evergy during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,121,000. OLD Republic International Corp increased its holdings in Evergy by 31.7% in the 4th quarter. OLD Republic International Corp now owns 830,246 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,339,000 after acquiring an additional 200,000 shares in the last quarter. RNC Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Evergy by 8.6% in the 4th quarter. RNC Capital Management LLC now owns 586,133 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,596,000 after acquiring an additional 46,437 shares in the last quarter. APG Asset Management US Inc. bought a new stake in Evergy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,057,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Evergy by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,757,415 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,605,537,000 after purchasing an additional 1,399,199 shares in the last quarter. 87.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Evergy Stock Performance

NYSE EVRG opened at $52.97 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.18 billion, a PE ratio of 17.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.60. Evergy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $46.92 and a 1-year high of $61.84. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $53.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $52.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.32.

Evergy (NYSE:EVRG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.61 by ($0.07). Evergy had a return on equity of 8.32% and a net margin of 12.84%. The business had revenue of $1.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.35 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.59 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Evergy, Inc. will post 3.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Evergy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 20th. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th were issued a $0.6425 dividend. This represents a $2.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 17th. Evergy’s payout ratio is 83.17%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Bank of America upgraded shares of Evergy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $51.00 to $57.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Evergy from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Citigroup assumed coverage on Evergy in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. They set a “buy” rating and a $64.00 target price for the company. Barclays boosted their price target on Evergy from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH initiated coverage on shares of Evergy in a report on Thursday, April 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $51.00 price objective for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Evergy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $57.83.

Evergy Profile

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.