QRG Capital Management Inc. Raises Holdings in Evergy Inc. $EVRG

QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Evergy Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG) by 159.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 321,320 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 197,371 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.14% of Evergy worth $22,149,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Amundi increased its stake in shares of Evergy by 14.2% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 140,301 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,710,000 after purchasing an additional 17,477 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Evergy by 16.7% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,737,480 shares of the company’s stock valued at $188,749,000 after buying an additional 392,361 shares in the last quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Evergy during the 1st quarter valued at $267,000. Integrity Alliance LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of Evergy during the first quarter worth $319,000. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Evergy by 26.6% during the first quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 124,115 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,558,000 after acquiring an additional 26,086 shares in the last quarter. 87.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on EVRG. Mizuho lifted their price target on Evergy from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $78.00 target price on Evergy and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Evergy in a report on Saturday, September 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and nine have assigned a Buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $74.44.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Lesley Lissette Elwell sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.33, for a total transaction of $578,640.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 499 shares in the company, valued at $36,092.67. The trade was a 94.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.42% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Evergy Stock Performance

Shares of EVRG stock opened at $76.62 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $17.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.05, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.57. Evergy Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $59.00 and a fifty-two week high of $77.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.50. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $72.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $69.23.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.04. Evergy had a net margin of 14.29% and a return on equity of 8.62%. The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.45 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.90 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. Evergy has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.920-4.120 EPS. Analysts expect that Evergy Inc. will post 3.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Evergy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.6675 per share. This represents a $2.67 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 22nd. Evergy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 73.35%.

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.