Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Increases Stake in Evergy, Inc. (NYSE:EVRG)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its stake in Evergy, Inc. (NYSE:EVRG - Free Report) by 2.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 515,306 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 14,383 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned approximately 0.22% of Evergy worth $31,954,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of EVRG. Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Evergy in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Evergy by 47.1% in the 3rd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 531 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Evergy in the 2nd quarter valued at $37,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Evergy in the 2nd quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Sentry Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Evergy in the 3rd quarter valued at $51,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.24% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Evergy

In related news, SVP Charles A. Caisley sold 9,236 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.63, for a total transaction of $550,742.68. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 33,425 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,993,132.75. This represents a 21.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kevin E. Bryant sold 48,141 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.93, for a total transaction of $3,029,513.13. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1 shares in the company, valued at $62.93. This trade represents a 100.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 60,724 shares of company stock valued at $3,777,059 in the last three months. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on EVRG shares. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Evergy from $67.00 to $65.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Evergy from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Evergy in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a "buy" rating and a $70.00 price target for the company. Mizuho started coverage on shares of Evergy in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $67.00 price target for the company. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Evergy to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $61.88.

Evergy Trading Up 1.5 %

NYSE EVRG traded up $0.96 during trading on Friday, hitting $63.76. The company had a trading volume of 1,930,961 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,915,776. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. Evergy, Inc. has a one year low of $48.04 and a one year high of $64.07. The company has a market cap of $14.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.62. The company's fifty day moving average is $61.14 and its 200-day moving average is $57.55.

Evergy (NYSE:EVRG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 analyst estimates of $2.35 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.88 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Evergy, Inc. will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Evergy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a $0.6675 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This is an increase from Evergy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. This represents a $2.67 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.19%. Evergy's dividend payout ratio is currently 69.46%.

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.