Evergy, Inc. (NYSE:EVRG) Shares Acquired by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in Evergy, Inc. (NYSE:EVRG) by 11.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 101,060 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,645 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Evergy were worth $5,354,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EVRG. IFG Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Evergy during the 2nd quarter worth $332,000. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new position in Evergy during the second quarter worth about $37,000. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Evergy by 5.7% in the second quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC now owns 132,188 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,012,000 after purchasing an additional 7,107 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Evergy in the second quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its holdings in Evergy by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 43,576 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,308,000 after purchasing an additional 1,201 shares in the last quarter. 87.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EVRG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Evergy from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Barclays increased their price objective on Evergy from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $58.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Evergy

In other news, Director Ann D. Murtlow sold 3,301 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.85, for a total transaction of $194,263.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $167,545.95. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Ann D. Murtlow sold 3,301 shares of Evergy stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.85, for a total transaction of $194,263.85. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 2,847 shares in the company, valued at $167,545.95. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Heather A. Humphrey sold 3,347 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.80, for a total transaction of $196,803.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 35,314 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,076,463.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Evergy Stock Performance

EVRG opened at $59.70 on Wednesday. Evergy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $46.92 and a 1-year high of $61.14. The stock has a market cap of $13.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.32, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.60. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $56.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $53.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 0.59 and a quick ratio of 0.35.

Evergy (NYSE:EVRG) last posted its earnings results on Friday, August 9th. The company reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.32 billion. Evergy had a return on equity of 8.50% and a net margin of 13.12%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.81 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Evergy, Inc. will post 3.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Evergy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 20th will be given a dividend of $0.6425 per share. This represents a $2.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 20th. Evergy’s payout ratio is currently 83.17%.

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.