Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Increases Stock Position in Evergy, Inc. (NYSE:EVRG)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Evergy, Inc. (NYSE:EVRG) by 42.3% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,135,011 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 634,735 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Evergy were worth $132,392,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EVRG. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Evergy in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Evergy by 47.1% during the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 531 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Evergy in the second quarter valued at about $37,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Evergy during the second quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its stake in shares of Evergy by 47.8% during the second quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 856 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.24% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Evergy news, SVP Heather A. Humphrey sold 3,347 shares of Evergy stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.80, for a total transaction of $196,803.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 35,314 shares in the company, valued at $2,076,463.20. This trade represents a 8.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Kevin E. Bryant sold 48,141 shares of the company’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 transaction of $3,029,513.13. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1 shares in the company, valued at approximately $62.93. This represents a 100.00 % 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 valued at $3,777,059. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Evergy Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:EVRG opened at $64.26 on Monday. Evergy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $48.04 and a 52-week high of $64.95. The stock has a market cap of $14.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.37, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.62. The business has a fifty day moving average of $61.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $57.91. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.35 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.88 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Evergy, Inc. will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Evergy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.6675 per share. 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 4.15%. This is an increase from Evergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. Evergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 72.16%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on EVRG shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Evergy from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Mizuho started coverage on Evergy in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $67.00 price target on the stock. Barclays dropped 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. UBS Group upgraded Evergy to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Evergy in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $70.00 target price for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Evergy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $61.88.

Evergy 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.