Merit Financial Group LLC Invests $269,000 in Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG)

Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 4,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $269,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Evergy by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 7,322 shares of the company’s stock worth $451,000 after acquiring an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Evergy by 23.1% in the 4th quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,692 shares of the company’s stock worth $658,000 after purchasing an additional 2,004 shares during the period. Foresight Capital Management Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Evergy by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Foresight Capital Management Advisors Inc. now owns 42,488 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,615,000 after purchasing an additional 2,285 shares in the last quarter. Steph & Co. grew its holdings in Evergy by 7.9% during the fourth quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 9,308 shares of the company’s stock valued at $573,000 after purchasing an additional 683 shares during the period. Finally, USA Financial Formulas purchased a new stake in Evergy in the fourth quarter worth about $73,000. 87.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Evergy

In related news, EVP Kevin E. Bryant sold 48,141 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 $62.93. This represents a 100.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Evergy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EVRG opened at $63.52 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $14.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.64. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $62.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $60.58. Evergy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $48.04 and a fifty-two week high of $65.47. 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 (NASDAQ:EVRG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.35 billion. Evergy had a net margin of 14.77% and a return on equity of 8.77%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.88 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Evergy, Inc. will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Evergy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 21st. This is a positive change from Evergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. This represents a $2.67 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.20%. Evergy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.16%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Mizuho started coverage on Evergy in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $67.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Evergy from $67.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 21st. Guggenheim raised shares of Evergy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of Evergy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $59.00 to $68.50 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Evergy from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $65.79.

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.