Evergy Inc. $EVRG Stake Lifted by Natixis Advisors LLC

Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Evergy Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG) by 86.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 319,510 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 147,864 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC owned about 0.14% of Evergy worth $24,290,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EVRG. Synergy Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Evergy by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC now owns 148,940 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,322,000 after purchasing an additional 74,470 shares during the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC acquired a new stake in Evergy during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,482,000. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Evergy during the second quarter worth approximately $246,000. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd bought a new stake in Evergy during the third quarter worth approximately $72,860,000. Finally, iA Global Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Evergy by 207.0% in the third quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 22,624 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,720,000 after buying an additional 15,254 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.24% of the company’s stock.

Evergy Stock Performance

Shares of EVRG opened at $81.93 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $78.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $75.99. Evergy Inc. has a 52 week low of $61.94 and a 52 week high of $85.23. The company has a market capitalization of $18.87 billion, a PE ratio of 22.32, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.49.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Saturday, January 31st. The company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter. Evergy had a net margin of 14.35% and a return on equity of 8.79%. Research analysts expect that Evergy Inc. will post 3.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Evergy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be paid a $0.695 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $2.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Evergy’s dividend payout ratio is 75.75%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Ann D. Murtlow sold 2,847 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.34, for a total transaction of $234,421.98. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 2,311 shares in the company, valued at approximately $190,287.74. This trade represents a 55.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on EVRG. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Evergy in a report on Monday, December 29th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Evergy from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. UBS Group downgraded shares of Evergy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $86.00 to $88.00 in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Mizuho set a $82.00 price objective on shares of Evergy in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Evergy from $79.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Evergy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.75.

About Evergy

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.