Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG) Shares Sold by Manning & Napier Advisors LLC

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC decreased its position in Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG) by 6.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,920,048 shares of the company’s stock after selling 121,560 shares during the period. Evergy makes up about 1.3% of Manning & Napier Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC’s holdings in Evergy were worth $118,179,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its stake in Evergy by 6,854.6% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its holdings in shares of Evergy by 7,234.3% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 1,300,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,613,000 after purchasing an additional 1,282,275 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its stake in Evergy by 131.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,004,414 shares of the company’s stock worth $124,294,000 after buying an additional 1,138,138 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in Evergy by 15,406.4% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 921,546 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,721,000 after purchasing an additional 915,603 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Evergy by 2,628.1% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 725,367 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,980,000 after buying an additional 698,778 shares in the last quarter. 87.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Evergy Stock Up 0.1 %

EVRG stock traded up $0.08 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $63.29. 64,028 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,668,020. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $62.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $60.76. The company has a market capitalization of $14.55 billion, a PE ratio of 17.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.64. Evergy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $48.04 and a twelve month high of $65.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $2.35 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.88 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Evergy, Inc. will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Evergy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were issued a $0.6675 dividend. This represents a $2.67 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 21st. This is an increase from Evergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. Evergy’s payout ratio is currently 72.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Evergy

In other news, EVP Kevin E. Bryant sold 48,141 shares of Evergy stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.93, for a total value of $3,029,513.13. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $62.93. The trade was a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.47% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Mizuho started coverage on Evergy in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $67.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Evergy from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of Evergy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $59.00 to $68.50 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Evergy from $65.00 to $62.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, Guggenheim raised shares of Evergy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Evergy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $65.36.

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.