Cerity Partners LLC Has $3.22 Million Position in Evergy, Inc. (NYSE:EVRG)

Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Evergy, Inc. (NYSE:EVRG) by 32.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 51,912 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 12,657 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Evergy were worth $3,219,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EVRG. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Evergy in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Evergy by 47.1% in the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 531 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the period. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new stake in Evergy in the second quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Evergy during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Sentry Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Evergy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $51,000. 87.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on EVRG. 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. UBS Group raised shares of Evergy to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Mizuho assumed coverage on Evergy in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $67.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Evergy in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $70.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on Evergy from $67.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $61.88.

Evergy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:EVRG opened at $64.63 on Friday. Evergy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $48.04 and a twelve month high of $65.47. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $61.82 and its 200-day moving average is $58.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.47, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.62.

Evergy (NYSE:EVRG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.35 billion. Evergy had a net margin of 14.77% and a return on equity of 8.77%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.88 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Evergy, Inc. will post 3.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Evergy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.6675 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This is an increase from Evergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. This represents a $2.67 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.13%. Evergy’s dividend payout ratio is 72.16%.

Insider Activity

In other Evergy news, SVP Charles A. Caisley sold 9,236 shares of Evergy stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.63, for a total transaction of $550,742.68. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 33,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,993,132.75. This trade represents a 21.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $3,029,513.13. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $62.93. This represents a 100.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Evergy Company 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.