Apexium Financial LP Makes New Investment in Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG)

Apexium Financial LP bought a new position in shares of Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 8,657 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $533,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Evergy by 391.1% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 97,186 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,030,000 after purchasing an additional 77,398 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in shares of Evergy by 29.1% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 997,832 shares of the company's stock worth $61,806,000 after acquiring an additional 224,679 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in Evergy by 34.0% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 945,148 shares of the company's stock worth $58,609,000 after purchasing an additional 239,599 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Evergy by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 515,306 shares of the company's stock worth $31,954,000 after buying an additional 14,383 shares during the period. Finally, Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC grew its stake in Evergy by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 7,322 shares of the company's stock valued at $451,000 after buying an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.24% of the company's stock.

Evergy Price Performance

Shares of EVRG stock traded down $0.11 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $64.14. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,032,547 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,720,433. Evergy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $48.04 and a fifty-two week high of $65.47. 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's 50 day simple moving average is $62.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $60.80. The company has a market capitalization of $14.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.34, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.64.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.07. The company 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 firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.88 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Evergy, Inc. will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Evergy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were given a $0.6675 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 21st. This is an increase from Evergy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. This represents a $2.67 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.16%. Evergy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 72.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on EVRG. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective 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. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded Evergy from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $59.00 to $68.50 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Guggenheim upgraded Evergy from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Mizuho started coverage on shares of Evergy in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $67.00 target price for the company. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Evergy from $65.00 to $62.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $65.36.

Insider Activity at Evergy

In other Evergy news, EVP Kevin E. Bryant sold 48,141 shares of Evergy stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.93, for a total transaction of $3,029,513.13. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $62.93. The trade was a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.47% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Evergy 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.