Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Decreases Stock Position in Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC reduced its stake in shares of Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG - Free Report) by 13.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 199,158 shares of the company's stock after selling 30,989 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC owned approximately 0.09% of Evergy worth $12,258,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Evergy in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Evergy during the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Evergy by 47.1% in the 3rd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 531 shares of the company's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its stake in shares of Evergy by 47.8% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 856 shares of the company's stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sentry Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Evergy during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $51,000. 87.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on EVRG shares. Mizuho began coverage on Evergy in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $67.00 target price on the stock. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Evergy from $67.00 to $65.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 21st. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of Evergy from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $59.00 to $68.50 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Evergy from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Evergy has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $64.06.

Evergy Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EVRG traded up $0.23 during trading on Friday, reaching $63.16. 1,664,243 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,594,806. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $62.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $60.27. Evergy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $48.04 and a 52-week high of $65.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.53 billion, a PE ratio of 17.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG - Get Free Report) last issued 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. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.35 billion. Evergy had a net margin of 14.77% and a return on equity of 8.77%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.88 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Evergy, Inc. will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Evergy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st were given a dividend of $0.6675 per share. This represents a $2.67 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.23%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 21st. This is a boost from Evergy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. Evergy's dividend payout ratio is 72.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1 shares of the company's stock, valued at $62.93. The trade was a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 3.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.