QRG Capital Management Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in Evergy Inc. $EVRG

QRG Capital Management Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Evergy Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG) by 16.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 140,483 shares of the company’s stock after selling 27,318 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Evergy were worth $10,184,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Caprock Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Evergy during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,482,000. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd bought a new position in Evergy in the 3rd quarter worth about $72,860,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Evergy by 9.9% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 209,307 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,912,000 after buying an additional 18,783 shares in the last quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Evergy by 207.0% during the 3rd quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 22,624 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,720,000 after buying an additional 15,254 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC increased its position in shares of Evergy by 32.5% during the third quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 83,233 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,327,000 after buying an additional 20,395 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EVRG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Evergy from $89.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. UBS Group lowered shares of Evergy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $86.00 to $88.00 in a report on Friday, February 13th. Mizuho set a $82.00 target price on shares of Evergy in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Evergy from $89.00 to $88.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Evergy from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold 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 $89.30.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Evergy news, SVP Charles L. King sold 2,440 shares of Evergy stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.19, for a total transaction of $200,543.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 18,359 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,508,926.21. This trade represents a 11.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ann D. Murtlow sold 2,847 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.34, for a total transaction of $234,421.98. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 2,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $190,287.74. The trade was a 55.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 8,937 shares of company stock worth $736,492 in the last quarter. 1.52% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Evergy Stock Down 0.6%

EVRG opened at $81.61 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $18.79 billion, a PE ratio of 22.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27. Evergy Inc. has a 52 week low of $63.29 and a 52 week high of $85.27. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $82.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $78.14.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Saturday, January 31st. The company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Evergy had a return on equity of 8.79% and a net margin of 14.35%. As a group, research analysts expect that Evergy Inc. will post 4.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Evergy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $0.695 per share. This represents a $2.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 10th. Evergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 75.75%.

Evergy Profile

Evergy, Inc is a regulated electric utility that generates, transmits and distributes electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers primarily across Kansas and western Missouri. The company provides core utility services including retail electric delivery, grid operations, customer service and outage restoration, operating under state regulatory frameworks. Evergy serves a mix of urban and rural communities, including portions of the Kansas City metropolitan area and other population centers in its service territory.

The company’s business activities span power generation, system planning, transmission and distribution infrastructure, and customer-facing programs such as energy efficiency and demand-side management.