Mattern Wealth Management LLC Trims Holdings in Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG)

Mattern Wealth Management LLC cut its holdings in Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG) by 12.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 7,910 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,161 shares during the period. Mattern Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Evergy were worth $487,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of EVRG. Apexium Financial LP purchased a new position in Evergy in the fourth quarter valued at $533,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Evergy by 15.5% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,480 shares of the company’s stock worth $154,000 after buying an additional 332 shares during the period. PFG Investments LLC grew its holdings in Evergy by 20.1% during the 4th quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 4,297 shares of the company’s stock worth $264,000 after acquiring an additional 719 shares in the last quarter. Advocate Group LLC increased its position in shares of Evergy by 10.8% in the 4th quarter. Advocate Group LLC now owns 132,568 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,160,000 after purchasing an additional 12,918 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Evergy by 71.3% during the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,678 shares of the company’s stock worth $165,000 after purchasing an additional 1,115 shares during the last quarter. 87.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Evergy Trading Up 1.1 %

NASDAQ:EVRG opened at $64.23 on Tuesday. Evergy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $48.04 and a 52-week high of $65.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $62.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $60.70. The company has a market capitalization of $14.77 billion, a PE ratio of 17.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.64.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.07. Evergy had a net margin of 14.77% and a return on equity of 8.77%. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.35 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.88 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Evergy, Inc. will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Evergy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were issued a dividend of $0.6675 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 21st. This is an increase from Evergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. This represents a $2.67 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.16%. Evergy’s payout ratio is 72.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Kevin E. Bryant sold 48,141 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $62.93. This represents a 100.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.47% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EVRG has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays dropped their price target on Evergy from $65.00 to $62.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Guggenheim raised Evergy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised Evergy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $59.00 to $68.50 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Evergy from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Mizuho started coverage on Evergy in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $67.00 target price on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $65.36.

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.