Larson Financial Group LLC Buys 5,655 Shares of Evergy, Inc. (NYSE:EVRG)

Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Evergy, Inc. (NYSE:EVRG) by 244.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,967 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 5,655 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Evergy were worth $494,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Evergy in the 1st quarter valued at $290,000. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Evergy by 31.9% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,922 shares of the company’s stock worth $157,000 after buying an additional 706 shares during the period. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. bought a new stake in shares of Evergy in the 1st quarter valued at about $671,000. Garner Asset Management Corp boosted its holdings in Evergy by 8.3% during the 1st quarter. Garner Asset Management Corp now owns 5,825 shares of the company’s stock valued at $311,000 after acquiring an additional 446 shares during the period. Finally, Zimmer Partners LP grew 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 acquiring an additional 2,062,434 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.24% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Charles A. Caisley sold 9,236 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.63, for a total transaction of $550,742.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 33,425 shares in the company, valued at $1,993,132.75. This trade represents a 21.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $3,029,513.13. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $62.93. This represents a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 3.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Evergy Stock Performance

Evergy stock opened at $64.49 on Tuesday. Evergy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $48.04 and a fifty-two week high of $64.95. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $61.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $57.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.55. The stock has a market cap of $14.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.43, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.62.

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

Evergy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.6675 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $2.67 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.14%. This is a positive change from Evergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. Evergy’s payout ratio is presently 72.16%.

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.