Sonora Investment Management Group LLC Buys 9,296 Shares of Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG)

Sonora Investment Management Group LLC raised its position in shares of Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG) by 4.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 200,231 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,296 shares during the quarter. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC’s holdings in Evergy were worth $12,324,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new position in Evergy during the third quarter worth $32,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Evergy by 47.1% in the 3rd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 531 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Evergy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $51,000. USA Financial Formulas bought a new stake in shares of Evergy during the 4th quarter valued at about $73,000. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Evergy by 230.0% in the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,386 shares of the company’s stock worth $86,000 after purchasing an additional 966 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EVRG has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded Evergy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $59.00 to $68.50 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Guggenheim upgraded shares of Evergy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Evergy from $65.00 to $62.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Evergy from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Mizuho assumed coverage on Evergy in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $67.00 price target on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Evergy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $65.36.

Evergy Stock Performance

EVRG stock opened at $64.25 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $62.41 and a 200-day moving average of $60.80. The firm has a market cap of $14.78 billion, a PE ratio of 17.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.64. Evergy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $48.04 and a 12-month high of $65.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.07. The business 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.88 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Evergy, Inc. will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Evergy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were paid a $0.6675 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 21st. This is a positive change from Evergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. This represents a $2.67 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.16%. Evergy’s payout ratio is presently 72.16%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Kevin E. Bryant sold 48,141 shares of Evergy stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.93, for a total value of $3,029,513.13. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1 shares in the company, valued at approximately $62.93. The trade was a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

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.