Everence Capital Management Inc. Takes Position in Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG)

Everence Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 3,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $229,000.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Evergy by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,532,719 shares of the company’s stock worth $330,469,000 after acquiring an additional 288,619 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Evergy by 38.6% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,683,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $195,089,000 after purchasing an additional 1,026,374 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in Evergy by 18.8% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 3,490,674 shares of the company’s stock worth $184,901,000 after purchasing an additional 552,455 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its position in Evergy by 25.8% in the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,848,735 shares of the company’s stock worth $176,650,000 after purchasing an additional 583,923 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its stake in Evergy by 6,854.6% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 2,539,001 shares of the company’s stock valued at $157,443,000 after buying an additional 2,502,493 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EVRG has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays cut their target price on Evergy from $67.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Evergy from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. UBS Group upgraded Evergy to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Evergy in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $70.00 price target for the company. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of Evergy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $59.00 to $68.50 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $64.06.

Insider Activity at Evergy

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 owns 1 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $62.93. This represents a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Evergy Price Performance

NASDAQ EVRG opened at $60.91 on Thursday. 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 company has a market cap of $14.01 billion, a PE ratio of 16.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.64. Evergy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $48.04 and a 52 week high of $65.47. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $62.37 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $59.80.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.35 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.88 EPS. Evergy’s revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Evergy, Inc. will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Evergy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st were paid a dividend of $0.6675 per share. This represents a $2.67 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.38%. This is a positive change from Evergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 21st. Evergy’s payout ratio is presently 72.16%.

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.