Wealthfront Advisers LLC Purchases 8,503 Shares of Evergy Inc. $EVRG

Wealthfront Advisers LLC raised its position in shares of Evergy Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG) by 5.5% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 162,656 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 8,503 shares during the period. Wealthfront Advisers LLC’s holdings in Evergy were worth $13,325,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of EVRG. MidFirst Bank purchased a new position in shares of Evergy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Evergy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Prosperity Bancshares Inc purchased a new stake in Evergy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Triumph Capital Management lifted its position in Evergy by 104.8% during the fourth quarter. Triumph Capital Management now owns 508 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Evergy by 163.2% in the fourth quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 529 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 328 shares in the last quarter. 87.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Evergy Price Performance

NASDAQ EVRG opened at $86.56 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.45 and a quick ratio of 0.24. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $84.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $81.17. Evergy Inc. has a 1 year low of $67.64 and a 1 year high of $88.62. The company has a market cap of $19.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.96, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.54.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.06. Evergy had a return on equity of 9.09% and a net margin of 14.63%.The company had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.27 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.54 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Evergy Inc. will post 4.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Evergy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 22nd were paid a $0.695 dividend. This represents a $2.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 22nd. Evergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 73.74%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Sandra Aj Lawrence sold 761 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.31, for a total value of $63,398.91. Following the sale, the director owned 1,680 shares in the company, valued at $139,960.80. This represents a 31.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Charles A. Caisley sold 10,787 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.46, for a total transaction of $900,283.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 37,789 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,153,869.94. This trade represents a 22.21% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 12,748 shares of company stock valued at $1,061,870. Company insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on EVRG. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Evergy from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Barclays increased their price objective on Evergy from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Evergy from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. BTIG Research initiated coverage on Evergy in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $99.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $87.00 target price on Evergy in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Evergy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $90.10.

Evergy Profile

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.