Mizuho Securities USA LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Evergy, Inc. (NYSE:EVRG)

Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its holdings in Evergy, Inc. (NYSE:EVRG) by 7,234.3% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,300,000 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,282,275 shares during the quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC’s holdings in Evergy were worth $80,613,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Evergy during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $112,464,000. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its stake 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 during the period. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Evergy by 11.2% in the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 316,455 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,892,000 after acquiring an additional 31,985 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Evergy by 4,661.9% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 12,381 shares of the company’s stock worth $659,000 after purchasing an additional 12,121 shares during the period. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Evergy by 344.8% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 73,944 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,947,000 after purchasing an additional 57,321 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.24% of the company’s stock.

Evergy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:EVRG opened at $63.76 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $61.14 and a 200 day moving average of $57.49. Evergy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $48.04 and a 52 week high of $64.07. 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 $14.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.62.

Evergy (NYSE:EVRG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.35 billion. Evergy had a return on equity of 8.77% and a net margin of 14.77%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.88 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Evergy, Inc. will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Evergy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given 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 4.19%. This is a positive change from Evergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. Evergy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 69.46%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EVRG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Evergy from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. UBS Group upgraded Evergy to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Evergy from $67.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Evergy in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Mizuho started coverage on shares of Evergy in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $67.00 target price on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Evergy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $61.88.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Evergy news, EVP Kevin E. Bryant sold 48,141 shares of Evergy 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1 shares in the company, valued at approximately $62.93. This trade represents a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Heather A. Humphrey sold 3,347 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.80, for a total value of $196,803.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 35,314 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,076,463.20. This trade represents a 8.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 60,724 shares of company stock worth $3,777,059. 0.47% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.