Franklin Resources Inc. Buys 288,619 Shares of Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG)

Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG - Free Report) by 5.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,532,719 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 288,619 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 2.41% of Evergy worth $330,469,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted 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 worth $6,030,000 after purchasing an additional 77,398 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Evergy by 13.2% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 307,797 shares of the company's stock valued at $16,304,000 after acquiring an additional 35,940 shares in the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp grew its position in Evergy by 60.6% during the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 44,024 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,332,000 after purchasing an additional 16,619 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Evergy by 49.2% in the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,178,289 shares of the company's stock worth $62,414,000 after buying an additional 388,625 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 239,599 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.24% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on EVRG shares. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of 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 raised Evergy to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted 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. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Evergy in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $70.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of Evergy in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $67.00 target price for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $61.88.

Evergy Price Performance

Shares of EVRG stock traded down $0.21 on Friday, hitting $61.91. 1,820,357 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,046,830. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.32. Evergy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $48.04 and a 52 week high of $65.47. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $62.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $58.75. The firm has a market cap of $14.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.73, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.64.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.07. Evergy had a return on equity of 8.77% and a net margin of 14.77%. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.35 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.88 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Evergy, Inc. will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Evergy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.6675 per share. This represents a $2.67 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.31%. This is a boost from Evergy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Evergy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.16%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Evergy news, EVP Kevin E. Bryant sold 48,141 shares of Evergy 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 $62.93. This trade represents a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.47% of the company's stock.

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.