Financial Counselors Inc. Purchases 2,901 Shares of Evergy, Inc. (NYSE:EVRG)

Financial Counselors Inc. grew its position in Evergy, Inc. (NYSE:EVRG) by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 73,899 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,901 shares during the period. Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Evergy were worth $4,582,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its holdings in shares of Evergy by 2.8% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 40,137 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,489,000 after acquiring an additional 1,100 shares during the period. CreativeOne Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Evergy by 12.3% during the 3rd quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 11,925 shares of the company’s stock worth $740,000 after purchasing an additional 1,304 shares in the last quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Evergy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $296,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in shares of Evergy by 34.0% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 945,148 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,609,000 after purchasing an additional 239,599 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Evergy by 131.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,004,414 shares of the company’s stock valued at $124,294,000 after purchasing an additional 1,138,138 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EVRG has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group upgraded Evergy to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Evergy from $67.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 21st. Mizuho started coverage on shares of Evergy in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $67.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Evergy from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Evergy in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $70.00 target price on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $61.88.

Insider Activity at Evergy

In related news, SVP Charles A. Caisley sold 9,236 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.63, for a total transaction of $550,742.68. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 33,425 shares in the company, valued at $1,993,132.75. The trade was a 21.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kevin E. Bryant sold 48,141 shares of Evergy stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.93, for a total transaction of $3,029,513.13. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1 shares in the company, valued at approximately $62.93. This trade represents a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Evergy Stock Up 0.2 %

EVRG stock opened at $65.00 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $61.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $58.09. Evergy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $48.04 and a 1-year high of $65.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.95 billion, a PE ratio of 17.43, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15.

Evergy (NYSE:EVRG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.35 billion. Evergy had a net margin of 14.77% and a return on equity of 8.77%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.88 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Evergy, Inc. will post 3.84 EPS for the current year.

Evergy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.6675 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $2.67 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.11%. This is an increase from Evergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. Evergy’s payout ratio is currently 72.16%.

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.