Benjamin Edwards Inc. Buys 277 Shares of Evergy, Inc. (NYSE:EVRG)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its stake in Evergy, Inc. (NYSE:EVRG) by 47.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 856 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 277 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in Evergy were worth $45,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of EVRG. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its position in shares of Evergy by 1,038.7% during the fourth quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 3,612,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $188,557,000 after purchasing an additional 3,294,967 shares in the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Evergy during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $112,464,000. Zimmer Partners LP grew its holdings in Evergy by 781.4% during the 1st quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 2,326,385 shares of the company’s stock valued at $124,182,000 after buying an additional 2,062,434 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in Evergy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $89,832,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Evergy by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,757,415 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,605,537,000 after acquiring an additional 1,399,199 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group raised shares of Evergy to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Evergy in a research report on Thursday. They set a “buy” rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price 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 assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.00.

Evergy Stock Performance

NYSE:EVRG opened at $61.65 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.59. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $58.63 and its 200 day moving average is $54.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.18 billion, a PE ratio of 19.95, a PEG ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.62. Evergy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $46.92 and a fifty-two week high of $62.24.

Evergy (NYSE:EVRG) last announced 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. Evergy had a net margin of 13.12% and a return on equity of 8.50%. The business had revenue of $1.45 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.32 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.81 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Evergy, Inc. will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Evergy Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Evergy

In other news, SVP Heather A. Humphrey sold 3,347 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.80, for a total value of $196,803.60. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 35,314 shares in the company, valued at $2,076,463.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, Director Ann D. Murtlow sold 3,301 shares of Evergy stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Heather A. Humphrey sold 3,347 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 35,314 shares in the company, valued at $2,076,463.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 15,884 shares of company stock worth $941,810 over the last 90 days. Company 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.