Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Cuts Stake in Evergy Inc. $EVRG

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lessened its stake in Evergy Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG) by 90.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 122,001 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,207,423 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.05% of Evergy worth $8,844,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of EVRG. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new position in Evergy in the fourth quarter worth about $257,000. United Services Automobile Association bought a new stake in Evergy during the first quarter valued at approximately $223,000. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in Evergy by 19.5% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 4,648 shares of the company’s stock worth $320,000 after acquiring an additional 758 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP raised its position in Evergy by 40.7% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 19,429 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,340,000 after acquiring an additional 5,618 shares during the period. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth boosted its stake in shares of Evergy by 7.3% during the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 13,791 shares of the company’s stock worth $951,000 after acquiring an additional 939 shares during the last quarter. 87.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Evergy Trading Up 0.6%

EVRG stock opened at $80.85 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $80.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $76.79. Evergy Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $61.94 and a fifty-two week high of $85.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.49. The firm has a market cap of $18.62 billion, a PE ratio of 22.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.65.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Saturday, January 31st. The company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Evergy had a net margin of 14.35% and a return on equity of 8.79%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Evergy Inc. will post 3.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Evergy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $0.695 per share. This represents a $2.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 10th. Evergy’s payout ratio is presently 75.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Evergy from $82.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Evergy in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen raised Evergy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $91.00 price objective on shares of Evergy in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Evergy from $79.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Heather A. Humphrey sold 3,650 shares of Evergy stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.61, for a total value of $301,526.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 44,007 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,635,418.27. The trade was a 7.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Ann D. Murtlow sold 2,847 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.34, for a total value of $234,421.98. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 2,311 shares in the company, valued at approximately $190,287.74. This represents a 55.20% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 8,937 shares of company stock valued at $736,492 over the last ninety days. 1.42% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Evergy Company Profile

Evergy, Inc is a regulated electric utility that generates, transmits and distributes electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers primarily across Kansas and western Missouri. The company provides core utility services including retail electric delivery, grid operations, customer service and outage restoration, operating under state regulatory frameworks. Evergy serves a mix of urban and rural communities, including portions of the Kansas City metropolitan area and other population centers in its service territory.

The company’s business activities span power generation, system planning, transmission and distribution infrastructure, and customer-facing programs such as energy efficiency and demand-side management.