Evergy, Inc. (NYSE:EVRG) Shares Purchased by KBC Group NV

KBC Group NV boosted its position in Evergy, Inc. (NYSE:EVRG - Free Report) by 74.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 21,439 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 9,164 shares during the period. KBC Group NV's holdings in Evergy were worth $1,329,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its holdings in Evergy by 6,854.6% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 2,539,001 shares of the company's stock valued at $157,443,000 after buying an additional 2,502,493 shares during the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Evergy in the second quarter valued at about $112,464,000. Zimmer Partners LP boosted its stake in Evergy by 781.4% in the 1st quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 2,326,385 shares of the company's stock worth $124,182,000 after purchasing an additional 2,062,434 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Evergy by 38.6% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,683,000 shares of the company's stock worth $195,089,000 after acquiring an additional 1,026,374 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Evergy in the second quarter worth about $50,044,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.24% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Charles A. Caisley sold 9,236 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.63, for a total transaction of $550,742.68. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 33,425 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,993,132.75. This represents a 21.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Heather A. Humphrey sold 3,347 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 35,314 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,076,463.20. This represents a 8.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 60,724 shares of company stock valued at $3,777,059. 3.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Evergy Stock Performance

EVRG traded up $0.11 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $63.98. 1,220,096 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,064,855. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.32. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $61.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $57.70. Evergy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $48.04 and a 1 year high of $64.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.62.

Evergy (NYSE:EVRG - Get Free Report) last released 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. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.35 billion. Evergy had a return on equity of 8.77% and a net margin of 14.77%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.88 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Evergy, Inc. will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Evergy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.6675 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $2.67 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.17%. This is a boost from Evergy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. Evergy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 69.46%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on EVRG shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted 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 initiated coverage on Evergy in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a "buy" rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group raised shares of Evergy to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Evergy from $67.00 to $65.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Mizuho started coverage on Evergy in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $67.00 price target for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Evergy has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $61.88.

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.