Evergy Inc. $EVRG Shares Sold by Prudential Financial Inc.

Prudential Financial Inc. lessened its holdings in Evergy Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG) by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 138,660 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,184 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in Evergy were worth $9,558,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of EVRG. Simplicity Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Evergy in the second quarter valued at approximately $778,000. Amundi grew its stake in Evergy by 14.2% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 140,301 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,710,000 after acquiring an additional 17,477 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Evergy by 16.7% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,737,480 shares of the company’s stock valued at $188,749,000 after acquiring an additional 392,361 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital increased its holdings in Evergy by 11.8% in the 2nd quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 3,845 shares of the company’s stock worth $265,000 after acquiring an additional 406 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Integrity Alliance LLC. acquired a new position in Evergy during the first quarter worth $319,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.24% of the company’s stock.

Evergy Price Performance

NASDAQ:EVRG opened at $77.65 on Friday. Evergy Inc. has a 52 week low of $59.67 and a 52 week high of $79.32. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $76.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $71.92. The company has a market capitalization of $17.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.33, a P/E/G ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.14 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. Evergy had a net margin of 14.29% and a return on equity of 8.62%. Evergy’s revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.02 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Evergy Inc. will post 3.83 EPS for the current year.

Evergy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 19th. Investors of record on Friday, November 21st will be issued a $0.695 dividend. This represents a $2.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. This is a boost from Evergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 21st. Evergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 76.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Lesley Lissette Elwell sold 8,000 shares of Evergy stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.33, for a total value of $578,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 499 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,092.67. This trade represents a 94.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.42% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on EVRG. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Evergy from $79.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Mizuho increased their target price on Evergy from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised Evergy to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Evergy in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Barclays restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Evergy in a report on Thursday, October 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $80.72.

Evergy 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.