Evergy, Inc. (NYSE:EVRG) Stock Holdings Lifted by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in Evergy, Inc. (NYSE:EVRG) by 52.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 79,181 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 27,088 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Evergy were worth $4,133,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Metis Global Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Evergy by 20.5% in the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 8,326 shares of the company’s stock worth $422,000 after acquiring an additional 1,419 shares in the last quarter. CTC Alternative Strategies Ltd. purchased a new position in Evergy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,121,000. RNC Capital Management LLC grew its position in Evergy by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. RNC Capital Management LLC now owns 586,133 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,596,000 after purchasing an additional 46,437 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Evergy by 47.3% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,516,817 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,178,000 after purchasing an additional 487,322 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its position in Evergy by 85.3% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 41,076 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,144,000 after purchasing an additional 18,910 shares in the last quarter. 87.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on EVRG shares. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH started coverage on shares of Evergy in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $51.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Evergy in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. They set a “buy” rating and a $64.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America upgraded 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 research note 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 research note on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Guggenheim cut shares of Evergy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $52.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $56.00.

Evergy Price Performance

Shares of Evergy stock opened at $54.10 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $51.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $51.14. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. Evergy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $46.92 and a 1-year high of $63.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.01, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.57.

Evergy (NYSE:EVRG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by ($0.03). Evergy had a return on equity of 8.47% and a net margin of 13.28%. The firm had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.30 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Evergy, Inc. will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Evergy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 11th were paid a $0.6425 dividend. This represents a $2.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.75%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 8th. Evergy’s payout ratio is 80.82%.

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.