First Trust Advisors LP Lowers Stake in Evergy Inc. $EVRG

First Trust Advisors LP cut its stake in Evergy Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG) by 2.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,978,753 shares of the company’s stock after selling 50,679 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Evergy were worth $150,425,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Modern Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Evergy by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,926 shares of the company’s stock worth $603,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC boosted its position in Evergy by 3.3% during the third quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 127,365 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,682,000 after purchasing an additional 4,030 shares in the last quarter. Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC purchased a new position in Evergy in the third quarter valued at about $28,358,000. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC raised its holdings in Evergy by 32.5% in the third quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 83,233 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,327,000 after purchasing an additional 20,395 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Evergy by 0.3% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,328,368 shares of the company’s stock worth $100,972,000 after purchasing an additional 4,144 shares in the last quarter. 87.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Evergy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EVRG opened at $83.36 on Friday. Evergy Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $61.94 and a fifty-two week high of $85.23. The company has a market cap of $19.20 billion, a PE ratio of 22.71, a P/E/G ratio of 3.31 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. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $77.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $75.83.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Saturday, January 31st. The company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Evergy had a net margin of 14.35% and a return on equity of 8.79%. As a group, equities 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. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.695 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $2.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. Evergy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 75.75%.

Insider Transactions at Evergy

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on EVRG. Mizuho set a $82.00 price target on shares of Evergy in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $91.00 price objective on shares of Evergy in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Evergy from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Evergy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Evergy in a research report on Monday, December 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.88.

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.