Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Has $118.18 Million Position in Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG)

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC cut its stake in Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG - Free Report) by 6.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,920,048 shares of the company's stock after selling 121,560 shares during the quarter. Evergy comprises about 1.3% of Manning & Napier Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.83% of Evergy worth $118,179,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in Evergy by 2.2% in the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 7,778 shares of the company's stock valued at $482,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Evergy by 47.1% during the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 531 shares of the company's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC lifted its position in Evergy by 2.3% during the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 7,751 shares of the company's stock worth $481,000 after buying an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Evergy by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 7,322 shares of the company's stock valued at $451,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares during the period. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its holdings in Evergy by 1.2% in the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 18,563 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,138,000 after acquiring an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. 87.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Evergy

In other 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1 shares in the company, valued at $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 currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Evergy Stock Up 2.0 %

NASDAQ EVRG traded up $1.23 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $64.25. 2,077,430 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,760,486. The company has a market cap of $14.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $62.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $60.80. 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 1-year low of $48.04 and a 1-year high of $65.47.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 return on equity of 8.77% and a net margin of 14.77%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.88 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Evergy, Inc. will post 3.84 EPS for the current year.

Evergy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were issued a $0.6675 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $2.67 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.16%. This is a positive change from Evergy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. Evergy's dividend payout ratio is presently 72.16%.

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.