Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Sells 30,989 Shares of Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC reduced its position in Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG) by 13.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 199,158 shares of the company’s stock after selling 30,989 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Evergy were worth $12,258,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Evergy by 5.5% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,532,719 shares of the company’s stock valued at $330,469,000 after acquiring an additional 288,619 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in Evergy by 38.6% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,683,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $195,089,000 after purchasing an additional 1,026,374 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in Evergy by 25.8% in the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,848,735 shares of the company’s stock valued at $176,650,000 after purchasing an additional 583,923 shares during the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its stake in Evergy by 6,854.6% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 2,539,001 shares of the company’s stock valued at $157,443,000 after purchasing an additional 2,502,493 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Evergy by 42.3% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,135,011 shares of the company’s stock valued at $132,392,000 after purchasing an additional 634,735 shares during the last quarter. 87.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Evergy

In other Evergy news, EVP Kevin E. Bryant sold 48,141 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.93, for a total value of $3,029,513.13. Following the completion of 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 3.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on EVRG. Mizuho began coverage on Evergy in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $67.00 target price on the stock. Barclays cut their target price on 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 Evergy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $59.00 to $68.50 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on 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 issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $64.06.

Evergy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EVRG opened at $63.16 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $62.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $60.22. The firm has a market cap of $14.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.64. Evergy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $48.04 and a 52 week high of $65.47. 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) last issued 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. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.35 billion. Evergy had a return on equity of 8.77% and a net margin of 14.77%. Evergy’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.88 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Evergy, Inc. will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Evergy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st were given 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 yield of 4.23%. This is a positive change from Evergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. Evergy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 72.16%.

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.