Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) Director Sells $234,421.98 in Stock

Evergy Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG) Director Ann Murtlow sold 2,847 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.34, for a total transaction of $234,421.98. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 2,311 shares in the company, valued at approximately $190,287.74. This trade represents a 55.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Evergy Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ EVRG traded up $0.30 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $82.80. The stock had a trading volume of 1,940,477 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,227,373. Evergy Inc. has a 52-week low of $61.94 and a 52-week high of $83.19. The firm has a market cap of $19.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.56, a P/E/G ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.66. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $76.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $75.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Saturday, January 31st. The company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter. Evergy had a return on equity of 8.79% and a net margin of 14.35%. Analysts expect that Evergy Inc. will post 3.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Evergy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be issued a $0.695 dividend. This represents a $2.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. Evergy’s payout ratio is presently 75.75%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Evergy

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in EVRG. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of Evergy by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 24,981 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,826,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. raised its stake in Evergy by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 8,990 shares of the company’s stock valued at $652,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Evergy by 0.3% in the third quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 46,972 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,571,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Evergy by 17.7% in the third quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 979 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Modern Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Evergy by 1.9% during the third quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,926 shares of the company’s stock worth $603,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. 87.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Evergy from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Evergy from $79.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Evergy from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Evergy in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Mizuho set a $82.00 price target on Evergy in a research report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.88.

About Evergy

Evergy, Inc is a regulated electric utility that generates, transmits and distributes electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers primarily across Kansas and western Missouri. The company provides core utility services including retail electric delivery, grid operations, customer service and outage restoration, operating under state regulatory frameworks. Evergy serves a mix of urban and rural communities, including portions of the Kansas City metropolitan area and other population centers in its service territory.

The company’s business activities span power generation, system planning, transmission and distribution infrastructure, and customer-facing programs such as energy efficiency and demand-side management.