Franklin Resources Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG)

Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,660,930 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 128,211 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Evergy were worth $348,430,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in EVRG. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new stake in Evergy in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. National Pension Service acquired a new stake in shares of Evergy in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Evergy during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Sandy Spring Bank raised its position in shares of Evergy by 5,983.3% during the 4th quarter. Sandy Spring Bank now owns 730 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 718 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Evergy during the 4th quarter worth about $49,000. 87.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on EVRG. Barclays boosted their price objective on Evergy from $62.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Guggenheim upgraded Evergy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group raised their price objective on Evergy from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of Evergy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Evergy presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $69.08.

Evergy Stock Performance

NASDAQ EVRG opened at $68.95 on Tuesday. 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’s fifty day moving average is $66.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $63.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.62. Evergy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $49.55 and a fifty-two week high of $69.93.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.46 by ($0.11). Evergy had a net margin of 14.77% and a return on equity of 8.77%. The firm had revenue of $1.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.24 billion. On average, research analysts anticipate that Evergy, Inc. will post 3.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Evergy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $0.6675 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $2.67 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.87%. Evergy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 70.45%.

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.