Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG) Shares Bought by HighTower Advisors LLC

HighTower Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 98,029 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 843 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Evergy were worth $6,034,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in Evergy by 84.6% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 7,975 shares of the company’s stock worth $501,000 after purchasing an additional 3,654 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Evergy during the fourth quarter worth $49,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in shares of Evergy by 34.0% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 945,148 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,609,000 after buying an additional 239,599 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can increased its position in shares of Evergy by 29.1% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 997,832 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,806,000 after acquiring an additional 224,679 shares during the period. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Evergy by 23.1% in the 4th quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,692 shares of the company’s stock worth $658,000 after acquiring an additional 2,004 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.24% of the company’s stock.

Evergy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EVRG opened at $67.10 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.14, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.62. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $65.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $62.93. Evergy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $49.55 and a 12 month high of $69.93.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.46 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $1.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.24 billion. Evergy had a net margin of 14.77% and a return on equity of 8.77%. Analysts expect that Evergy, Inc. will post 3.83 EPS for the current year.

Evergy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $0.6675 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $2.67 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.98%. Evergy’s payout ratio is 70.45%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised Evergy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $59.00 to $68.50 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Guggenheim raised shares of Evergy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Evergy from $62.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Evergy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.42.

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.