LPL Financial LLC Sells 12,653 Shares of Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG)

LPL Financial LLC reduced its position in Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG) by 7.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 163,785 shares of the company’s stock after selling 12,653 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC owned approximately 0.07% of Evergy worth $10,081,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its position in Evergy by 391.1% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 97,186 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,030,000 after acquiring an additional 77,398 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in Evergy by 84.6% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 7,975 shares of the company’s stock worth $501,000 after purchasing an additional 3,654 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Evergy during the fourth quarter valued at $49,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Evergy by 23.1% during the fourth quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,692 shares of the company’s stock valued at $658,000 after purchasing an additional 2,004 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in Evergy by 15,406.4% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 921,546 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,721,000 after buying an additional 915,603 shares in the last quarter. 87.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Evergy Price Performance

Evergy stock opened at $66.18 on Friday. Evergy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $49.55 and a 52-week high of $70.30. 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 firm’s fifty day moving average is $66.79 and its 200 day moving average is $63.57. The company has a market cap of $15.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.89, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.52.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by ($0.11). Evergy had a net margin of 14.77% and a return on equity of 8.77%. The business had revenue of $1.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.24 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that Evergy, Inc. will post 3.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Evergy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $0.6675 per share. This represents a $2.67 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Evergy’s payout ratio is 70.45%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EVRG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded Evergy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Evergy from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Guggenheim upgraded Evergy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Evergy from $62.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $69.08.

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.