Brighton Jones LLC Purchases New Stake in Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG)

Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new position in shares of Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 4,170 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $257,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Evergy by 391.1% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 97,186 shares of the company's stock worth $6,030,000 after purchasing an additional 77,398 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its position in 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 buying an additional 224,679 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in shares of Evergy by 34.0% in the 3rd 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 period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Evergy by 2.9% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 515,306 shares of the company's stock worth $31,954,000 after acquiring an additional 14,383 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC increased its position in Evergy by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 7,322 shares of the company's stock worth $451,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares during the period. 87.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Kevin E. Bryant sold 48,141 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.93, for a total value of $3,029,513.13. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $62.93. This trade represents a 100.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.47% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on EVRG shares. Mizuho started coverage on shares of Evergy in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $67.00 target price on the stock. Guggenheim upgraded shares of Evergy from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Evergy from $65.00 to $62.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Evergy from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised Evergy from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $59.00 to $68.50 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $65.36.

Evergy Stock Down 0.1 %

EVRG stock traded down $0.08 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $64.17. 3,103,013 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,824,624. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.55. Evergy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $48.04 and a 1-year high of $65.47. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $62.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $60.80. The firm has a market cap of $14.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.64.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG - Get Free Report) last announced 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. Evergy had a net margin of 14.77% and a return on equity of 8.77%. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.35 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.88 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Evergy, Inc. will post 3.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Evergy Increases Dividend

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

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.