abrdn plc Increases Stock Holdings in Evergy, Inc. (NYSE:EVRG)

abrdn plc raised its stake in shares of Evergy, Inc. (NYSE:EVRG) by 15.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 76,481 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,297 shares during the quarter. abrdn plc’s holdings in Evergy were worth $3,992,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. CVA Family Office LLC bought a new position in shares of Evergy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in Evergy in the third quarter worth $35,000. MV Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Evergy by 3,263.6% in the fourth quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 740 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 718 shares in the last quarter. Headinvest LLC purchased a new position in Evergy during the third quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Evergy by 48.8% during the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 854 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. 87.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on EVRG shares. Guggenheim lowered shares of Evergy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $52.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH started coverage on shares of Evergy in a report on Thursday, April 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $51.00 target price for the company. Citigroup started coverage on Evergy in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $64.00 price target on the stock. Barclays lifted their price objective on Evergy from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Bank of America raised Evergy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $51.00 to $57.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $56.00.

Evergy Stock Performance

EVRG stock opened at $51.69 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.88 billion, a PE ratio of 16.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.57. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $51.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $51.02. Evergy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $46.92 and a 12-month high of $63.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14.

Evergy (NYSE:EVRG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by ($0.03). Evergy had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 8.47%. The business had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.30 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Evergy, Inc. will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Evergy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, March 11th were issued a $0.6425 dividend. This represents a $2.57 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.97%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 8th. Evergy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 80.82%.

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.