UMB Bank n.a. Sells 3,820 Shares of Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG)

UMB Bank n.a. trimmed its position in Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG) by 11.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 29,350 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,820 shares during the quarter. UMB Bank n.a.’s holdings in Evergy were worth $1,806,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Evergy by 2.2% in the 3rd 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 raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC lifted its stake in shares of Evergy by 2.3% during the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 7,751 shares of the company’s stock worth $481,000 after buying an additional 171 shares during the period. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Evergy by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 7,322 shares of the company’s stock valued at $451,000 after buying an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its position in shares of Evergy by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 18,563 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,138,000 after acquiring an additional 212 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on EVRG shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Evergy from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Mizuho began coverage on shares of Evergy in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $67.00 price target for the company. Barclays dropped their price objective 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. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of Evergy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $59.00 to $68.50 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Evergy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $64.06.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Kevin E. Bryant sold 48,141 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1 shares in the company, valued at $62.93. This represents a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 3.26% of the company’s stock.

Evergy Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EVRG opened at $63.16 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $14.53 billion, a PE ratio of 17.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $62.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $60.35. Evergy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $48.04 and a 1 year high of $65.47.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.07. Evergy had a net margin of 14.77% and a return on equity of 8.77%. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.35 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.88 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Evergy, Inc. will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Evergy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were paid a dividend of $0.6675 per share. This represents a $2.67 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.23%. This is an increase from Evergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 21st. Evergy’s dividend 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.