Evergy, Inc. (NYSE:EVRG) Shares Sold by Bailard Inc.

Bailard Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Evergy, Inc. (NYSE:EVRG) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 36,886 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,018 shares during the quarter. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in Evergy were worth $1,925,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in EVRG. CVA Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Evergy during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in Evergy in the third quarter valued at $35,000. MV Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Evergy by 3,263.6% in the fourth quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 740 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 718 shares during the period. Headinvest LLC acquired a new position in Evergy in the third quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its stake in Evergy by 105.5% in the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 785 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 403 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EVRG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH assumed coverage on shares of Evergy in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $51.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America raised shares of Evergy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $51.00 to $57.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Evergy from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Guggenheim downgraded shares of Evergy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $52.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Evergy in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $64.00 target price on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $56.00.

Evergy Price Performance

EVRG stock traded down $0.22 during trading on Friday, reaching $52.20. 232,031 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,518,929. Evergy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $46.92 and a 52-week high of $63.39. The company has a market cap of $11.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.48, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.51. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $51.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $50.98.

Evergy (NYSE:EVRG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.46 billion. Evergy had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 8.47%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.30 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Evergy, Inc. will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Evergy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 11th were issued a $0.6425 dividend. This represents a $2.57 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.92%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 8th. Evergy’s payout ratio is 80.82%.

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.