Blueshift Asset Management LLC Acquires New Position in Evergy, Inc. (NYSE:EVRG)

Blueshift Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Evergy, Inc. (NYSE:EVRG) during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 4,769 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $296,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EVRG. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Evergy in the 1st quarter valued at about $290,000. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in Evergy by 66.3% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 51,538 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,751,000 after acquiring an additional 20,538 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Evergy by 60.4% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 15,522 shares of the company’s stock valued at $829,000 after purchasing an additional 5,844 shares during the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Evergy by 8.3% in the 1st quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 6,076 shares of the company’s stock valued at $324,000 after purchasing an additional 466 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Evergy by 69.1% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,627 shares of the company’s stock worth $457,000 after purchasing an additional 3,525 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.24% of the company’s stock.

Evergy Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE EVRG opened at $65.00 on Friday. Evergy, Inc. has a one year low of $48.04 and a one year high of $65.47. The firm has a market cap of $14.95 billion, a PE ratio of 17.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.62. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $61.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $58.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.55.

Evergy (NYSE:EVRG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.35 billion. Evergy had a return on equity of 8.77% and a net margin of 14.77%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.88 EPS. Analysts expect that Evergy, Inc. will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Evergy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.6675 dividend. This is a boost from Evergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. This represents a $2.67 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Evergy’s payout ratio is currently 72.16%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Evergy news, SVP Charles A. Caisley sold 9,236 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.63, for a total value of $550,742.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 33,425 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,993,132.75. This represents a 21.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.93, for a total value of $3,029,513.13. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $62.93. This trade represents a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.47% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Mizuho assumed coverage on Evergy in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $67.00 target price on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Evergy in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $70.00 target price on the stock. Barclays lowered their price target on Evergy from $67.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Evergy from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Evergy to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Evergy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.88.

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.