Evergy, Inc. (NYSE:EVRG) Shares Purchased by Prospera Financial Services Inc

Prospera Financial Services Inc boosted its stake in Evergy, Inc. (NYSE:EVRG) by 28.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 32,154 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,189 shares during the period. Prospera Financial Services Inc’s holdings in Evergy were worth $1,994,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EVRG. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its position in Evergy by 6,854.6% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 2,539,001 shares of the company’s stock valued at $157,443,000 after acquiring an additional 2,502,493 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Evergy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $112,464,000. Zimmer Partners LP increased its position in Evergy by 781.4% during the 1st quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 2,326,385 shares of the company’s stock worth $124,182,000 after purchasing an additional 2,062,434 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its position in Evergy by 7,234.3% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 1,300,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,613,000 after purchasing an additional 1,282,275 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its position in Evergy by 38.6% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,683,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $195,089,000 after purchasing an additional 1,026,374 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.24% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Evergy

In other Evergy news, EVP Kevin E. Bryant sold 48,141 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $62.93. This represents a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Charles A. Caisley sold 9,236 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 33,425 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,993,132.75. This represents a 21.65 % decrease in their position. 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. 3.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on EVRG. Wells Fargo & Company boosted 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. Mizuho began coverage on Evergy in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $67.00 target price on the stock. Barclays dropped their target price on Evergy from $67.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Evergy in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $70.00 target price on the stock. 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 given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $61.88.

Evergy Stock Performance

EVRG opened at $64.37 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $14.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $61.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $57.74. Evergy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $48.04 and a 1-year high of $64.42.

Evergy (NYSE:EVRG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.07. Evergy had a return on equity of 8.77% and a net margin of 14.77%. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.35 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.88 EPS. Evergy’s revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Evergy, Inc. will post 3.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Evergy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid 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 yield of 4.15%. This is a positive change from Evergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. Evergy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 69.46%.

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.