Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Cuts Position in Evergy, Inc. (NYSE:EVRG)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lowered its holdings in shares of Evergy, Inc. (NYSE:EVRG) by 74.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 218,205 shares of the company’s stock after selling 650,950 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in Evergy were worth $13,531,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of EVRG. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Evergy in the 2nd quarter valued at about $112,464,000. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its position in shares of Evergy by 8.0% in the second quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 260,331 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,790,000 after acquiring an additional 19,193 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in shares of Evergy by 66.3% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 51,538 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,751,000 after acquiring an additional 20,538 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Evergy by 13.2% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 307,797 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,304,000 after purchasing an additional 35,940 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp raised its stake in Evergy by 60.6% in the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 44,024 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,332,000 after purchasing an additional 16,619 shares during the last quarter. 87.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Evergy

In other Evergy news, EVP Kevin E. Bryant sold 48,141 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 1 shares in the company, valued at $62.93. This represents a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Charles A. Caisley sold 9,236 shares of Evergy stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.63, for a total value of $550,742.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 33,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,993,132.75. The trade was a 21.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 3.26% of the company’s stock.

Evergy Stock Performance

Shares of Evergy stock opened at $64.84 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.62. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $61.56 and a 200 day moving average of $57.97. Evergy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $48.04 and a 12 month high of $64.95.

Evergy (NYSE:EVRG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $2.02 EPS 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 business had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.35 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.88 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Evergy, Inc. will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Evergy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.6675 dividend. This is an increase from Evergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $2.67 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.12%. Evergy’s payout ratio is 72.16%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EVRG has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Evergy from $67.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Mizuho started coverage on Evergy in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $67.00 target price for the company. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Evergy in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $70.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Evergy from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Evergy to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Evergy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.