Empirical Finance LLC Increases Stake in Evergy, Inc. (NYSE:EVRG)

Empirical Finance LLC lifted its holdings in Evergy, Inc. (NYSE:EVRG) by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,751 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 171 shares during the quarter. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Evergy were worth $481,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Evergy in the second quarter worth $112,464,000. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its position in shares of Evergy by 8.0% during the 2nd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 260,331 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,790,000 after purchasing an additional 19,193 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Evergy by 4,661.9% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 12,381 shares of the company’s stock valued at $659,000 after purchasing an additional 12,121 shares during the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Evergy by 606.2% in the first quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 20,403 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,089,000 after buying an additional 17,514 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in Evergy by 66.3% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 51,538 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,751,000 after buying an additional 20,538 shares during the period. 87.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Evergy

In other Evergy news, SVP Charles A. Caisley sold 9,236 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.63, for a total value of $550,742.68. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 33,425 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,993,132.75. This represents a 21.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Heather A. Humphrey sold 3,347 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.80, for a total transaction of $196,803.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 35,314 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,076,463.20. The trade was a 8.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 60,724 shares of company stock valued at $3,777,059. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Evergy Stock Up 1.5 %

NYSE EVRG opened at $63.76 on Monday. Evergy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $48.04 and a 12 month high of $64.07. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The stock has a market cap of $14.66 billion, a PE ratio of 17.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.62. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $61.14 and its 200 day moving average is $57.55.

Evergy (NYSE:EVRG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.35 billion. Evergy had a net margin of 14.77% and a return on equity of 8.77%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.88 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Evergy, Inc. will post 3.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Evergy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.6675 per share. This is a positive change from Evergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $2.67 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.19%. Evergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 69.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on EVRG shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Evergy from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Evergy in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $70.00 price target for the company. Barclays decreased their price objective on Evergy from $67.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 21st. UBS Group upgraded Evergy to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Mizuho started coverage on shares of Evergy in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $67.00 target price on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $61.88.

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.