Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. Purchases New Position in Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG)

Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 3,121 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $203,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Evergy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,330,000. US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in Evergy by 0.6% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 37,518 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,326,000 after buying an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC lifted its stake in Evergy by 5.4% in the third quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 7,728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $479,000 after buying an additional 397 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Evergy by 6.4% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 107,569 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,665,000 after acquiring an additional 6,509 shares during the period. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its position in shares of Evergy by 11.5% during the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 144,751 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,976,000 after acquiring an additional 14,876 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.24% of the company’s stock.

Evergy Trading Down 2.6 %

Shares of Evergy stock opened at $67.70 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $15.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.66. Evergy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $49.55 and a 52-week high of $69.93. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $64.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $62.32. 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 released its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.46 by ($0.11). The business had revenue of $1.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.24 billion. Evergy had a return on equity of 8.77% and a net margin of 14.77%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Evergy, Inc. will post 3.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Evergy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $0.6675 dividend. This represents a $2.67 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Evergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 70.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EVRG has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Evergy from $65.00 to $62.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Guggenheim raised shares of Evergy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised Evergy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $59.00 to $68.50 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $65.36.

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.