Magellan Asset Management Ltd Sells 34,784 Shares of Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG)

Magellan Asset Management Ltd lessened its stake in shares of Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG) by 17.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 162,386 shares of the company’s stock after selling 34,784 shares during the period. Magellan Asset Management Ltd owned about 0.07% of Evergy worth $9,995,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new position in Evergy during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. National Pension Service bought a new position in shares of Evergy during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new stake in Evergy in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Sandy Spring Bank raised its stake in Evergy by 5,983.3% in the 4th quarter. Sandy Spring Bank now owns 730 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 718 shares during the period. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Evergy during the fourth quarter valued at about $49,000. Institutional investors own 87.24% of the company’s stock.

Evergy Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of EVRG stock opened at $69.43 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $66.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $63.50. Evergy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $49.55 and a 12-month high of $69.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The firm has a market cap of $15.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.62.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) last issued 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). Evergy had a return on equity of 8.77% and a net margin of 14.77%. The firm had revenue of $1.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.24 billion. Equities analysts anticipate 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 was paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $0.6675 dividend. This represents a $2.67 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.85%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Evergy’s payout ratio is 70.45%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on EVRG. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Evergy from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Barclays raised their target price on Evergy from $62.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Guggenheim upgraded Evergy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of Evergy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.08.

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.