Mizuho Securities USA LLC Purchases 1,282,275 Shares of Evergy, Inc. (NYSE:EVRG)

Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its position in shares of Evergy, Inc. (NYSE:EVRG) by 7,234.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,300,000 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,282,275 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC owned approximately 0.57% of Evergy worth $80,613,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Evergy by 47.1% in the 3rd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 531 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC lifted its stake in shares of Evergy by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 7,751 shares of the company’s stock valued at $481,000 after acquiring an additional 171 shares during the last quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC increased its stake in Evergy by 12.3% in the 2nd quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 1,705 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Evergy by 16.3% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,483 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Keeley Teton Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Evergy by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Keeley Teton Advisors LLC now owns 37,950 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,026,000 after buying an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.24% of the company’s stock.

Evergy Stock Up 1.5 %

EVRG stock opened at $63.76 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.32. Evergy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $48.04 and a 1-year high of $64.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.62. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $61.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $57.49.

Evergy (NYSE:EVRG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.35 billion. Evergy had a return on equity of 8.77% and a net margin of 14.77%. Evergy’s revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.88 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Evergy, Inc. will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Evergy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.6675 per share. This represents a $2.67 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.19%. This is a positive change from Evergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Evergy’s payout ratio is 69.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Evergy

In related news, SVP Heather A. Humphrey sold 3,347 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.80, for a total transaction of $196,803.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 35,314 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,076,463.20. The trade was a 8.66 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Kevin E. Bryant sold 48,141 shares of Evergy stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.93, for a total transaction of $3,029,513.13. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1 shares in the company, valued at $62.93. This represents a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 60,724 shares of company stock valued at $3,777,059. Insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EVRG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Evergy in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Evergy from $67.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Mizuho started coverage on shares of 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 raised their price objective on shares of Evergy from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Evergy to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Evergy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $61.88.

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.