Sterling Capital Management LLC Has $701,000 Holdings in Evergy Inc. $EVRG

Sterling Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Evergy Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG) by 54.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,558 shares of the company’s stock after selling 10,381 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Evergy were worth $701,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in Evergy by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 24,981 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,826,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. increased its stake in shares of Evergy by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 8,990 shares of the company’s stock valued at $652,000 after buying an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Evergy by 0.3% in the third quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 46,972 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,571,000 after buying an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Evergy by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,926 shares of the company’s stock worth $603,000 after buying an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Composition Wealth LLC lifted its position in Evergy by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Composition Wealth LLC now owns 3,920 shares of the company’s stock worth $284,000 after buying an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. 87.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Evergy

In related news, Director Sandra Aj Lawrence sold 761 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.31, for a total value of $63,398.91. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 1,680 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $139,960.80. This trade represents a 31.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Charles A. Caisley sold 10,787 shares of Evergy stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.46, for a total transaction of $900,283.02. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 37,789 shares in the company, valued at $3,153,869.94. The trade was a 22.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold a total of 12,748 shares of company stock valued at $1,061,870 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

Evergy Stock Performance

EVRG opened at $86.19 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $19.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.54. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $82.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $80.14. Evergy Inc. has a 1 year low of $67.30 and a 1 year high of $87.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.45 and a quick ratio of 0.24.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.27 billion. Evergy had a return on equity of 9.09% and a net margin of 14.63%.Evergy’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.54 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Evergy Inc. will post 4.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Evergy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 22nd were given a dividend of $0.695 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 22nd. This represents a $2.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. Evergy’s dividend payout ratio is 73.74%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company set a $87.00 price objective on shares of Evergy in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Evergy from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Evergy from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Evergy from $89.00 to $88.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Evergy from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $90.10.

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.