Sanctuary Advisors LLC Increases Position in Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG) by 45.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,942 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,472 shares during the quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC’s holdings in Evergy were worth $1,539,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Evergy during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new position in Evergy during the third quarter valued at about $32,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Evergy by 47.1% during the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 531 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new stake in Evergy in the second quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in Evergy in the second quarter valued at about $41,000. 87.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on EVRG. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Evergy in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $70.00 price target on the stock. Mizuho initiated 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 dropped their price target on Evergy from $67.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 21st. UBS Group raised Evergy to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Evergy from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $61.88.

Evergy Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ EVRG opened at $61.43 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The company has a market cap of $14.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 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 business has a 50-day simple moving average of $62.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $58.96.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.35 billion. Evergy had a net margin of 14.77% and a return on equity of 8.77%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.88 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Evergy, Inc. will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Evergy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were given 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 4.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 21st. Evergy’s payout ratio is 72.16%.

Insider Transactions 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1 shares in the company, valued at approximately $62.93. This trade represents a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 3.26% of the company’s stock.

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.