Principal Financial Group Inc. Increases Stock Position in Evergy, Inc. (NYSE:EVRG)

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Evergy, Inc. (NYSE:EVRG - Free Report) by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 278,197 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 18,595 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.12% of Evergy worth $17,251,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Evergy by 0.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,046,328 shares of the company's stock worth $1,657,253,000 after purchasing an additional 288,913 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings 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 period. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its position in shares of Evergy by 18.8% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 3,490,674 shares of the company's stock valued at $184,901,000 after purchasing an additional 552,455 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp increased its stake in shares of Evergy by 5.3% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 2,686,541 shares of the company's stock worth $141,787,000 after purchasing an additional 134,236 shares during the period. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in Evergy by 6,854.6% during the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 2,539,001 shares of the company's stock worth $157,443,000 after purchasing an additional 2,502,493 shares during the last quarter. 87.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Activity at Evergy

In other Evergy news, EVP Kevin E. Bryant sold 48,141 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $62.93. This represents a 100.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Heather A. Humphrey sold 3,347 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.80, for a total transaction of $196,803.60. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 35,314 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,076,463.20. The trade was a 8.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 60,724 shares of company stock worth $3,777,059 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.47% of the company's stock.

Evergy Price Performance

EVRG traded up $0.46 on Friday, reaching $63.26. The stock had a trading volume of 591,465 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,065,023. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $61.06 and a 200-day moving average of $57.41. 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 fifty-two week low of $48.04 and a fifty-two week high of $64.07. The company has a market capitalization of $14.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.62.

Evergy (NYSE:EVRG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.35 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.88 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Evergy, Inc. will post 3.84 EPS for the current year.

Evergy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.6675 per share. This is a positive change from Evergy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. This represents a $2.67 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Evergy's dividend payout ratio is currently 69.46%.

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.