Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Reduces Position in Evergy, Inc. (NYSE:EVRG)

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board decreased its holdings in shares of Evergy, Inc. (NYSE:EVRG - Free Report) by 28.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,560 shares of the company's stock after selling 8,073 shares during the quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board's holdings in Evergy were worth $1,275,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of EVRG. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Evergy during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $112,464,000. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its position in Evergy by 8.0% during the second quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 260,331 shares of the company's stock valued at $13,790,000 after acquiring an additional 19,193 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Evergy by 4,661.9% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 12,381 shares of the company's stock valued at $659,000 after acquiring an additional 12,121 shares during the period. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Evergy by 606.2% in the 1st quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 20,403 shares of the company's stock worth $1,089,000 after acquiring an additional 17,514 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in shares of Evergy by 66.3% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 51,538 shares of the company's stock worth $2,751,000 after purchasing an additional 20,538 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.24% of the company's stock.

Evergy Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of Evergy stock traded up $0.80 during trading on Thursday, hitting $64.51. 750,923 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,061,471. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $61.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $57.79. The firm has a market cap of $14.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.62. Evergy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $48.04 and a 52-week high of $64.69.

Evergy (NYSE:EVRG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.35 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.88 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued 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 4.14%. Evergy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 69.46%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group raised shares of Evergy to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Mizuho started coverage on Evergy in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $67.00 price target for the company. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Evergy in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $70.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Evergy from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on shares of Evergy from $67.00 to $65.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $61.88.

Insider Transactions at Evergy

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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $62.93. The trade was a 100.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Heather A. Humphrey sold 3,347 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.80, for a total value of $196,803.60. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 35,314 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,076,463.20. This represents a 8.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 60,724 shares of company stock valued at $3,777,059. 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.