Franklin Resources Inc. Grows Position in Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG)

Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG) by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,532,719 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 288,619 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Evergy were worth $330,469,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of EVRG. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its position in shares of Evergy by 2.2% in the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 7,778 shares of the company’s stock valued at $482,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the period. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Evergy by 47.1% in the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 531 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC raised its position in shares of Evergy by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 7,751 shares of the company’s stock valued at $481,000 after buying an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Evergy by 16.3% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,483 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its position in Evergy by 1.2% during the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 18,563 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,138,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.24% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Evergy Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:EVRG opened at $61.91 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.55. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $62.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $58.75. Evergy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $48.04 and a 52-week high of $65.47.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.07. Evergy had a return on equity of 8.77% and a net margin of 14.77%. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.35 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.88 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Evergy, Inc. will post 3.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Evergy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.6675 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $2.67 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.31%. This is a positive change from Evergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. Evergy’s payout ratio is presently 72.16%.

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.