Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Buys 21,868 Shares of Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG)

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board grew its stake in shares of Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG - Free Report) by 106.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 42,428 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 21,868 shares during the quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board's holdings in Evergy were worth $2,611,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. MML Investors Services LLC grew its stake in Evergy by 22.1% during the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 5,168 shares of the company's stock worth $320,000 after buying an additional 935 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp boosted its position in shares of Evergy by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 170,300 shares of the company's stock worth $10,560,000 after acquiring an additional 1,272 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in Evergy in the third quarter valued at approximately $692,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its position in Evergy by 45.4% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 23,942 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,539,000 after purchasing an additional 7,472 shares in the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Evergy by 3.9% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,715 shares of the company's stock worth $354,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. 87.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Evergy Trading Up 1.4 %

NASDAQ:EVRG traded up $0.94 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $68.37. 1,975,930 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,960,803. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $67.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $63.95. Evergy, Inc. has a one year low of $51.49 and a one year high of $70.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.52. 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 (NASDAQ:EVRG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.46 by ($0.11). Evergy had a net margin of 14.77% and a return on equity of 8.77%. The company had revenue of $1.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.24 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that Evergy, Inc. will post 3.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Evergy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $0.6675 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $2.67 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.91%. Evergy's payout ratio is 70.45%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Guggenheim upgraded Evergy from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Evergy from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Evergy from $62.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded Evergy to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $69.08.

About Evergy

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.