Park Avenue Securities LLC Acquires 1,208 Shares of Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG)

Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its holdings in Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG) by 18.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,810 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,208 shares during the quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Evergy were worth $481,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its position in shares of Evergy by 6,854.6% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 2,539,001 shares of the company’s stock worth $157,443,000 after buying an additional 2,502,493 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its stake in Evergy by 7,234.3% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 1,300,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,613,000 after acquiring an additional 1,282,275 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Evergy by 131.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,004,414 shares of the company’s stock worth $124,294,000 after acquiring an additional 1,138,138 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Evergy by 38.6% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,683,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $195,089,000 after acquiring an additional 1,026,374 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Evergy by 147.8% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,193,382 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,213,000 after acquiring an additional 711,785 shares during the last quarter. 87.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Evergy news, EVP Kevin E. Bryant sold 48,141 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.93, for a total transaction of $3,029,513.13. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1 shares in the company, valued at $62.93. This trade represents a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Evergy Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ EVRG opened at $63.06 on Friday. Evergy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $48.04 and a 1 year high of $65.47. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $62.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $60.46. The company has a market cap of $14.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.04, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.32.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.35 billion. Evergy had a return on equity of 8.77% and a net margin of 14.77%. Evergy’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.88 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Evergy, Inc. will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Evergy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were issued a $0.6675 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 21st. This is a boost from Evergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. This represents a $2.67 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.23%. Evergy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Evergy Company 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.