Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Has $1.63 Million Stock Holdings in Evergy, Inc. (NYSE:EVRG)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its position in Evergy, Inc. (NYSE:EVRG) by 32.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 31,278 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 7,728 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in Evergy were worth $1,632,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of EVRG. Manning & Napier Group LLC increased its stake in Evergy by 76.6% in the fourth quarter. Manning & Napier Group LLC now owns 2,183,788 shares of the company’s stock valued at $113,994,000 after purchasing an additional 947,196 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its holdings in Evergy by 41.3% during the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,942,415 shares of the company’s stock worth $153,594,000 after acquiring an additional 860,433 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in Evergy by 228.3% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,029,495 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,195,000 after acquiring an additional 715,892 shares in the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Evergy by 706.1% in the third quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 495,951 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,145,000 after acquiring an additional 434,425 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Evergy by 19.9% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,548,598 shares of the company’s stock worth $129,214,000 after purchasing an additional 422,152 shares during the period. 87.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Evergy Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of EVRG stock opened at $54.10 on Monday. Evergy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $46.92 and a fifty-two week high of $63.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.51. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $51.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $51.14. The company has a market cap of $12.43 billion, a PE ratio of 17.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.57.

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

Evergy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, March 11th were given a $0.6425 dividend. This represents a $2.57 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. Evergy’s payout ratio is currently 80.82%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on EVRG shares. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH initiated coverage on Evergy in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $51.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Evergy from $60.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Bank of America raised Evergy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $51.00 to $57.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Barclays boosted their target price on Evergy from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Guggenheim cut 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $56.00.

Evergy Company 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.