Evergy Inc. $EVRG Stake Lessened by Ledyard National Bank

Ledyard National Bank lowered its position in Evergy Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG) by 40.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 31,198 shares of the company’s stock after selling 21,280 shares during the quarter. Ledyard National Bank’s holdings in Evergy were worth $2,447,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Magellan Asset Management Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Evergy during the second quarter worth about $187,857,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in Evergy in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $138,233,000. Energy Income Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Evergy in the second quarter valued at $110,394,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new stake in shares of Evergy in the second quarter valued at about $54,307,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new stake in shares of Evergy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $53,210,000. 87.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. HSBC started coverage on shares of Evergy in a research report on Thursday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $92.00 price target on the stock. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Evergy in a research note on Thursday. They set a “buy” rating and a $95.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Evergy in a research report on Friday, October 9th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Evergy from $89.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Evergy in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Evergy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.42.

Evergy Stock Performance

Shares of EVRG opened at $84.95 on Friday. Evergy Inc. has a 1 year low of $71.40 and a 1 year high of $88.62. The company has a market cap of $19.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.50. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $81.07 and a 200-day moving average of $82.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a current ratio of 0.36.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.07. Evergy had a net margin of 15.19% and a return on equity of 9.20%. The company had revenue of $1.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.36 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.82 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Evergy Inc. will post 4.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Evergy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 18th were issued a dividend of $0.6950 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 18th. This represents a $2.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. Evergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 70.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Evergy

In related news, Director Jonathan Rolph bought 1,640 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 11th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $81.47 per share, for a total transaction of $133,610.80. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 670 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,584.90. This represents a -169.07% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

Evergy Profile

Evergy, Inc is an investor-owned electric utility that generates, transmits, distributes and sells electricity to residential, commercial, industrial and municipal customers. The company operates regulated utilities in Kansas and Missouri, providing electric service through its Kansas Central, Kansas South, Missouri Metro and Missouri West operations.

Evergy’s generation portfolio includes wind, solar, coal, natural gas and nuclear power. The company also owns an interest in the Wolf Creek Generating Station, a nuclear power plant in Kansas, and continues to invest in renewable energy, grid modernization and other infrastructure intended to support reliable electricity service.

Evergy was formed in 2018 through the merger of Westar Energy and Great Plains Energy, the parent company of Kansas City Power & Light.