D.A. Davidson & CO. Cuts Holdings in Evergy, Inc. (NYSE:EVRG)

D.A. Davidson & CO. cut its stake in Evergy, Inc. (NYSE:EVRG) by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,795 shares of the company’s stock after selling 231 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Evergy were worth $235,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EVRG. Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new position in Evergy in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new position in Evergy in the third quarter valued at about $32,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its position in Evergy by 47.1% in the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 531 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the period. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new position in Evergy in the second quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in Evergy in the second quarter valued at about $41,000. 87.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Evergy Stock Up 0.1 %

NYSE:EVRG opened at $63.30 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $14.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.64. Evergy, Inc. has a one year low of $48.04 and a one year high of $65.47. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $61.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $58.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.55.

Evergy (NYSE:EVRG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.35 billion. Evergy had a return on equity of 8.77% and a net margin of 14.77%. The company’s revenue for the quarter 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 predict that Evergy, Inc. will post 3.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Evergy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.6675 dividend. This represents a $2.67 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.22%. This is an increase 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 (DPR) is 72.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Evergy news, EVP Kevin E. Bryant sold 48,141 shares of Evergy 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1 shares in the company, valued at $62.93. The trade was a 100.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on EVRG shares. Mizuho initiated coverage on Evergy in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $67.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group raised Evergy to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Evergy from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated 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 dropped their target price on Evergy from $67.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $61.88.

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.