Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY Buys 5,847 Shares of Evergy Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG)

Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY increased its position in shares of Evergy Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG - Free Report) by 49.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 17,588 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 5,847 shares during the quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY's holdings in Evergy were worth $1,213,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC raised its holdings in Evergy by 11.5% during the fourth quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC now owns 16,492 shares of the company's stock worth $1,015,000 after acquiring an additional 1,700 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new position in Evergy during the fourth quarter worth $257,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Evergy during the fourth quarter worth $2,591,000. US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in Evergy by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 37,923 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,334,000 after acquiring an additional 405 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Metis Global Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Evergy by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 7,646 shares of the company's stock valued at $471,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.24% of the company's stock.

Evergy Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of EVRG traded up $1.17 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $70.15. 1,782,353 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,069,827. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $67.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $65.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.14 billion, a PE ratio of 18.46, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.50. Evergy Inc. has a 52 week low of $52.32 and a 52 week high of $70.36.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.66 by ($0.12). Evergy had a return on equity of 8.84% and a net margin of 14.87%. The business had revenue of $1.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.21 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.54 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Evergy Inc. will post 3.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Evergy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.6675 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.67 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.81%. Evergy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 70.26%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EVRG has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group set a $78.00 price objective on Evergy and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Evergy from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Evergy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. UBS Group raised Evergy from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the company from $68.00 to $78.00 in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on Evergy from $73.00 to $71.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $73.19.

Evergy 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.