JPMorgan Chase & Co. Buys 330,464 Shares of Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG) by 24.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,675,453 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 330,464 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned about 0.73% of Evergy worth $103,895,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EVRG. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Evergy during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new position in Evergy in the third quarter valued at about $32,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Evergy by 47.1% in the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 531 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new stake in shares of Evergy during the 2nd quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its position in shares of Evergy by 47.8% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 856 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.24% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Evergy news, EVP Kevin E. Bryant sold 48,141 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 $62.93. This trade represents a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Evergy Stock Performance

NASDAQ EVRG opened at $61.55 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. Evergy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $48.04 and a twelve month high of $65.47. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $62.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $59.51. The firm has a market cap of $14.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.64.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.07. Evergy had a net margin of 14.77% and a return on equity of 8.77%. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.35 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.88 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Evergy, Inc. will post 3.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Evergy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were issued a dividend of $0.6675 per share. This represents a $2.67 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 21st. This is an increase from Evergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. Evergy’s dividend payout ratio is 72.16%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.