Evergy, Inc. (NYSE:EVRG) Shares Acquired by Natixis

Natixis lifted its position in shares of Evergy, Inc. (NYSE:EVRG) by 312.9% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 180,541 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 136,816 shares during the quarter. Natixis’ holdings in Evergy were worth $9,637,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in Evergy by 132.9% in the 1st quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 652,401 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,156,000 after acquiring an additional 372,314 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position in Evergy by 31.9% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,922 shares of the company’s stock valued at $157,000 after acquiring an additional 706 shares during the period. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd increased its position in Evergy by 606.2% in the 1st quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 20,403 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,089,000 after acquiring an additional 17,514 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Evergy in the 1st quarter valued at about $290,000. Finally, Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board increased its position in Evergy by 12.4% in the 1st quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 111,694 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,962,000 after acquiring an additional 12,285 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.24% of the company’s stock.

Evergy Price Performance

EVRG stock traded up $0.11 on Thursday, reaching $56.33. The company had a trading volume of 2,094,403 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,193,377. Evergy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $46.92 and a 1 year high of $61.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.57. The company’s fifty day moving average is $53.77 and its 200 day moving average is $52.42. The company has a market cap of $12.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.23, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.60.

Evergy (NYSE:EVRG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.61 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $1.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.35 billion. Evergy had a net margin of 12.84% and a return on equity of 8.32%. The company’s revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.59 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Evergy, Inc. will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Evergy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 20th were issued a $0.6425 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 17th. This represents a $2.57 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.56%. Evergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 83.17%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Evergy from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 10th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Evergy from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH assumed coverage on Evergy in a report on Thursday, April 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $51.00 price objective on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.83.

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.