Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Trims Position in Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio decreased its position in shares of Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG) by 8.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 90,479 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,413 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in Evergy were worth $5,611,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Evergy by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 71,927 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,460,000 after purchasing an additional 7,280 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Evergy by 22.1% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 5,168 shares of the company’s stock worth $320,000 after buying an additional 935 shares in the last quarter. Yaupon Capital Management LP boosted its position in shares of Evergy by 2.2% during the third quarter. Yaupon Capital Management LP now owns 540,162 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,495,000 after acquiring an additional 11,692 shares during the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Evergy during the third quarter valued at $202,000. Finally, Wexford Capital LP increased its holdings in Evergy by 31.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wexford Capital LP now owns 84,926 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,266,000 after acquiring an additional 20,190 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Evergy Stock Performance

NASDAQ EVRG opened at $61.91 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $14.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.64. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $62.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $58.79. Evergy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $48.04 and a fifty-two week high of $65.47. 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 (NASDAQ:EVRG) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.35 billion. Evergy had a net margin of 14.77% and a return on equity of 8.77%. The business’s revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.88 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Evergy, Inc. will post 3.85 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $2.67 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.31%. This is an increase from Evergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. Evergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Evergy

In other news, EVP Kevin E. Bryant sold 48,141 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.93, for a total value of $3,029,513.13. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1 shares in the company, valued at approximately $62.93. This represents a 100.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

About Evergy

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.