Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Cuts Holdings in Evergy, Inc. (NYSE:EVRG)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund reduced its position in Evergy, Inc. (NYSE:EVRG) by 8.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,808 shares of the company’s stock after selling 608 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Evergy were worth $422,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EVRG. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Evergy during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Evergy by 47.1% during the 3rd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 531 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new position in shares of Evergy during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Evergy during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Sentry Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Evergy during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $51,000. 87.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Evergy Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:EVRG opened at $63.98 on Wednesday. Evergy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $48.04 and a 52-week high of $64.14. The business has a fifty day moving average of $61.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $57.70. The stock has a market cap of $14.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.29, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.62. 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 (NYSE: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. 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 was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.88 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Evergy, Inc. will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Evergy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.6675 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $2.67 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.17%. This is an increase from Evergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. Evergy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 69.46%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Activity

In other Evergy news, EVP Kevin E. Bryant sold 48,141 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 1 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $62.93. This trade represents a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Charles A. Caisley sold 9,236 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.63, for a total value of $550,742.68. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 33,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,993,132.75. The trade was a 21.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 60,724 shares of company stock worth $3,777,059. 3.26% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.