Advisors Asset Management Inc. Buys 1,228 Shares of Evergy Inc. $EVRG

Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Evergy Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG) by 3.8% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 33,832 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,228 shares during the quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Evergy were worth $2,332,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Clearstead Trust LLC bought a new position in Evergy in the first quarter valued at $32,000. AlphaCore Capital LLC purchased a new position in Evergy in the 2nd quarter worth $33,000. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Evergy in the first quarter worth $34,000. Bfsg LLC boosted its position in Evergy by 82.2% during the second quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 665 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, Zions Bancorporation National Association UT bought a new position in shares of Evergy during the first quarter valued at about $48,000. 87.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Evergy Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:EVRG opened at $77.65 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $76.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $71.92. Evergy Inc. has a 12-month low of $59.67 and a 12-month high of $79.32. The company has a market capitalization of $17.87 billion, a PE ratio of 21.33, a PEG ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.14 by ($0.11). Evergy had a return on equity of 8.62% and a net margin of 14.29%.The company had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.02 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Evergy Inc. will post 3.83 EPS for the current year.

Evergy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 21st will be issued a $0.695 dividend. This represents a $2.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 21st. This is an increase from Evergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Evergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.16%.

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 value 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.42% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded Evergy to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Evergy from $77.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Evergy from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Evergy from $79.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Evergy in a report on Thursday, October 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Evergy presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $80.72.

Evergy Profile

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.