The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Reduces Holdings in Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company decreased its holdings in shares of Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG - Free Report) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 723,022 shares of the company's stock after selling 4,381 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned 0.31% of Evergy worth $44,502,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in EVRG. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY boosted its stake in shares of Evergy by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 11,741 shares of the company's stock worth $723,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC lifted its position in Evergy by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 3,692 shares of the company's stock valued at $227,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. grew its holdings in Evergy by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 3,231 shares of the company's stock valued at $199,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the period. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Evergy by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 7,322 shares of the company's stock worth $451,000 after buying an additional 182 shares during the period. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of Evergy by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 3,873 shares of the company's stock valued at $238,000 after buying an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. 87.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on EVRG shares. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Evergy from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Guggenheim upgraded Evergy from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised Evergy to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Evergy from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $68.00 to $78.00 in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $70.92.

Evergy Price Performance

NASDAQ:EVRG traded up $0.23 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $69.69. The stock had a trading volume of 198,822 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,940,143. 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 has a market capitalization of $16.03 billion, a PE ratio of 18.83, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.53. Evergy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $52.10 and a 52 week high of $70.30. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $67.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $64.63.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.46 by ($0.11). Evergy had a net margin of 14.77% and a return on equity of 8.77%. The business had revenue of $1.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.24 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Evergy, Inc. will post 3.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Evergy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $0.6675 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $2.67 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.83%. Evergy's payout ratio is currently 70.45%.

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.