Baird Financial Group Inc. Sells 3,854 Shares of Evergy Inc. $EVRG

Key Points

• Baird Financial Group Inc. has reduced its stake in Evergy Inc. by 9.1% to a total of $2.64 million, owning 38,303 shares after selling 3,854 shares in the first quarter.
• Evergy recently reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $0.82, surpassing analysts' expectations of $0.78, while revenues were slightly below expectations at $1.43 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.6675, representing an annualized yield of 3.7% and a payout ratio of 73.35%.

Baird Financial Group Inc. reduced its position in Evergy Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG - Free Report) by 9.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 38,303 shares of the company's stock after selling 3,854 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Evergy were worth $2,641,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vident Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Evergy by 135.0% in the 1st quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 16,380 shares of the company's stock worth $1,130,000 after buying an additional 9,409 shares during the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Evergy by 12.7% during the first quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 8,610 shares of the company's stock valued at $594,000 after purchasing an additional 973 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in Evergy by 0.4% during the first quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 725,871 shares of the company's stock valued at $50,049,000 after purchasing an additional 2,849 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming lifted its position in Evergy by 79.3% during the first quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 5,586 shares of the company's stock valued at $385,000 after purchasing an additional 2,471 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Huber Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Evergy by 50.2% during the first quarter. Huber Capital Management LLC now owns 13,767 shares of the company's stock valued at $949,000 after purchasing an additional 4,600 shares in the last quarter. 87.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Evergy Price Performance

NASDAQ:EVRG traded up $0.29 on Friday, reaching $72.59. 146,101 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,306,156. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $70.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $68.52. The firm has a market cap of $16.71 billion, a PE ratio of 19.94, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.58. Evergy Inc. has a 12 month low of $59.00 and a 12 month high of $73.97.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.45 billion. Evergy had a return on equity of 8.62% and a net margin of 14.29%.The business's quarterly revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.90 earnings per share. Evergy has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.920-4.120 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Evergy Inc. will post 3.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Evergy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 22nd will be issued a $0.6675 dividend. This represents a $2.67 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 22nd. Evergy's payout ratio is 73.35%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on EVRG. Jefferies Financial Group set a $78.00 target price on Evergy and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Barclays lowered their target price on Evergy from $73.00 to $71.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Evergy from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Evergy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Mizuho raised their price target on Evergy from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and eight have assigned a Buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $74.44.

Evergy Company Profile

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.