Short Interest in Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG) Grows By 9.3%

Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 9,060,000 shares, a growth of 9.3% from the November 30th total of 8,290,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,880,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.8 days. Approximately 4.0% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Insider Activity at Evergy

In related news, EVP Kevin E. Bryant sold 48,141 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1 shares in the company, valued at $62.93. The trade was a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.47% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Evergy

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in Evergy by 391.1% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 97,186 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,030,000 after buying an additional 77,398 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Evergy by 13.2% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 307,797 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,304,000 after buying an additional 35,940 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp grew its position in Evergy by 60.6% during the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 44,024 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,332,000 after buying an additional 16,619 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Evergy by 49.2% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,178,289 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,414,000 after buying an additional 388,625 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in Evergy by 34.0% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 945,148 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,609,000 after buying an additional 239,599 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.24% of the company’s stock.

Evergy Stock Performance

NASDAQ EVRG opened at $61.55 on Thursday. Evergy has a 1 year low of $48.04 and a 1 year high of $65.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market cap of $14.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.64, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $62.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $59.51.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) 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 net margin of 14.77% and a return on equity of 8.77%. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.35 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.88 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Evergy will post 3.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Evergy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $2.67 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.34%. This is a positive change from Evergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. Evergy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EVRG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group upgraded shares of Evergy to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Evergy from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Evergy from $67.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of Evergy in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $67.00 price target for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Evergy in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $70.00 price target for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Evergy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $61.88.

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.