Commerce Bank Decreases Position in Evergy, Inc. (NYSE:EVRG)

Commerce Bank lowered its position in Evergy, Inc. (NYSE:EVRG) by 5.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 35,602 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,181 shares during the quarter. Commerce Bank’s holdings in Evergy were worth $2,208,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Evergy during the second quarter worth about $112,464,000. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its stake in Evergy by 8.0% in the 2nd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 260,331 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,790,000 after buying an additional 19,193 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Evergy by 4,661.9% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 12,381 shares of the company’s stock valued at $659,000 after buying an additional 12,121 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in Evergy by 66.3% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 51,538 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,751,000 after buying an additional 20,538 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Evergy by 13.2% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 307,797 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,304,000 after acquiring an additional 35,940 shares during the last quarter. 87.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Evergy Price Performance

EVRG stock opened at $64.26 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $14.78 billion, a PE ratio of 17.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.62. 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 50-day moving average price of $61.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $57.89. Evergy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $48.04 and a 12-month high of $64.95.

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

Evergy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.6675 per share. This represents a $2.67 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.15%. This is a boost from Evergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Evergy’s dividend payout ratio is 72.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EVRG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group upgraded Evergy to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Evergy from $67.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Evergy from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Evergy in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $70.00 price target for the company. Finally, Mizuho began coverage on Evergy in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $67.00 price objective on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $61.88.

Insider Buying and Selling at Evergy

In other news, SVP Charles A. Caisley sold 9,236 shares of Evergy stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.63, for a total transaction of $550,742.68. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 33,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,993,132.75. The trade was a 21.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Heather A. Humphrey sold 3,347 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.80, for a total value of $196,803.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 35,314 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,076,463.20. This represents a 8.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 60,724 shares of company stock valued at $3,777,059 over the last three months. 0.47% of the stock is owned by company 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.