Oxbow Advisors LLC Takes $2.74 Million Position in Evergy, Inc. (NYSE:EVRG)

Oxbow Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Evergy, Inc. (NYSE:EVRG) during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 44,149 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,738,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its position in Evergy by 47.1% in the 3rd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 531 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC lifted its holdings in Evergy by 12.3% during the 2nd quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 1,705 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,000 after buying an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC boosted its position in Evergy by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 19,009 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,015,000 after buying an additional 192 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Evergy by 16.3% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,483 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Keeley Teton Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Evergy by 0.6% in the first quarter. Keeley Teton Advisors LLC now owns 37,950 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,026,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. 87.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Ann D. Murtlow sold 3,301 shares of Evergy stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were 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 approximately $167,545.95. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Evergy news, Director Ann D. Murtlow sold 3,301 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.85, for a total transaction of $194,263.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $167,545.95. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Heather A. Humphrey sold 3,347 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were 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 directly owns 35,314 shares in the company, valued at $2,076,463.20. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 15,884 shares of company stock worth $941,810 in the last 90 days. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EVRG has been the topic of several recent research reports. Mizuho initiated coverage on Evergy in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $67.00 price target on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Evergy in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $70.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Evergy from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Evergy to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on Evergy from $67.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.88.

Evergy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:EVRG traded up $1.10 during trading on Friday, reaching $62.51. The company had a trading volume of 3,095,604 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,523,954. Evergy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $47.97 and a fifty-two week high of $62.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 0.59 and a quick ratio of 0.35. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $60.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $57.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.62.

Evergy (NYSE:EVRG) last released its 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. Evergy had a net margin of 13.12% and a return on equity of 8.50%. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.35 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.88 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Evergy, Inc. will post 3.84 EPS for the current year.

Evergy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.6675 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is 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 4.27%. Evergy’s dividend payout ratio is 80.06%.

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.