Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Raises Stake in Evergy, Inc. (NYSE:EVRG)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its stake in shares of Evergy, Inc. (NYSE:EVRG) by 33.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 64,238 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 16,152 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in Evergy were worth $3,403,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Evergy by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,046,328 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,657,253,000 after purchasing an additional 288,913 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its position in Evergy by 1,038.7% in the fourth quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 3,612,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $188,557,000 after buying an additional 3,294,967 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its stake in shares of Evergy by 18.8% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 3,490,674 shares of the company’s stock valued at $184,901,000 after buying an additional 552,455 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lifted its position in shares of Evergy by 5.3% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 2,686,541 shares of the company’s stock valued at $141,787,000 after buying an additional 134,236 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zimmer Partners LP grew its stake in shares of Evergy by 781.4% during the 1st quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 2,326,385 shares of the company’s stock worth $124,182,000 after acquiring an additional 2,062,434 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Evergy in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $70.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group upgraded shares of Evergy to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Evergy from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.00.

Evergy Stock Performance

Evergy stock opened at $61.65 on Friday. Evergy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $46.92 and a 1-year high of $62.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.18 billion, a PE ratio of 19.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.62. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $58.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $54.92.

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

Evergy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 20th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 20th were issued a dividend of $0.6425 per share. This represents a $2.57 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 20th. Evergy’s payout ratio is 83.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Evergy news, SVP Heather A. Humphrey sold 3,347 shares of the business’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 value of $196,803.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 35,314 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,076,463.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Evergy news, SVP Heather A. Humphrey sold 3,347 shares of Evergy stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.80, for a total transaction of $196,803.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 35,314 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,076,463.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Ann D. Murtlow sold 3,301 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.85, for a total value of $194,263.85. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,847 shares in the company, valued at $167,545.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 15,884 shares of company stock worth $941,810. Insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Evergy 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.