KBC Group NV Cuts Stock Position in Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG)

KBC Group NV cut its holdings in shares of Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG) by 40.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 12,769 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,670 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Evergy were worth $786,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Evergy by 5.5% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,532,719 shares of the company’s stock worth $330,469,000 after purchasing an additional 288,619 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in Evergy by 25.8% during the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,848,735 shares of the company’s stock worth $176,650,000 after purchasing an additional 583,923 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its stake in Evergy by 6,854.6% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 2,539,001 shares of the company’s stock worth $157,443,000 after purchasing an additional 2,502,493 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Evergy by 42.3% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,135,011 shares of the company’s stock worth $132,392,000 after buying an additional 634,735 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Evergy by 131.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,004,414 shares of the company’s stock worth $124,294,000 after buying an additional 1,138,138 shares during the period. 87.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 1 shares in the company, valued at $62.93. This represents a 100.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Evergy Stock Performance

Shares of EVRG opened at $64.17 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $62.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $60.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The company has a market capitalization of $14.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.64. Evergy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $48.04 and a 52-week high of $65.47.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) last announced its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.35 billion. Evergy had a return on equity of 8.77% and a net margin of 14.77%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.88 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Evergy, Inc. will post 3.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Evergy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were issued a $0.6675 dividend. This is an increase from Evergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. This represents a $2.67 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.16%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 21st. Evergy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Evergy from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of Evergy in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $67.00 target price on the stock. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of Evergy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $59.00 to $68.50 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Evergy from $65.00 to $62.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Guggenheim upgraded shares of Evergy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $65.36.

Evergy Company 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.