Evergy Inc. $EVRG Shares Acquired by Empower Advisory Group LLC

Empower Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Evergy Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG) by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,260,977 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 33,746 shares during the quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC owned about 0.55% of Evergy worth $86,919,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of EVRG. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Evergy by 28.7% during the second quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. now owns 6,361 shares of the company’s stock valued at $437,000 after buying an additional 1,417 shares during the last quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey lifted its position in Evergy by 5.9% during the 2nd quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey now owns 34,722 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,393,000 after acquiring an additional 1,925 shares during the period. Bailard Inc. grew its stake in Evergy by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 45,349 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,126,000 after purchasing an additional 549 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Evergy by 2.8% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,257,857 shares of the company’s stock valued at $429,677,000 after purchasing an additional 170,953 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp increased its holdings in shares of Evergy by 44.4% in the second quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 2,470,917 shares of the company’s stock valued at $170,320,000 after purchasing an additional 760,301 shares during the period. 87.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EVRG has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Evergy in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Evergy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 1st. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Evergy from $77.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Evergy in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Evergy to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Evergy presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $80.72.

Evergy Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:EVRG opened at $76.47 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. Evergy Inc. has a 12-month low of $59.67 and a 12-month high of $79.32. The business has a 50 day moving average of $75.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $71.34. The company has a market capitalization of $17.60 billion, a PE ratio of 21.01, a PEG ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 0.61.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.14 by ($0.11). Evergy had a return on equity of 8.62% and a net margin of 14.29%.The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.02 EPS. Evergy’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Evergy Inc. will post 3.83 EPS for the current year.

Evergy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 21st will be given a $0.695 dividend. This represents a $2.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. This is an increase from Evergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 21st. Evergy’s payout ratio is currently 76.16%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Lesley Lissette Elwell sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.33, for a total transaction of $578,640.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 499 shares in the company, valued at $36,092.67. This trade represents a 94.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.42% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.