Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Reduces Stock Holdings in Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. reduced its stake in Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG - Free Report) by 34.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 682,480 shares of the company's stock after selling 359,084 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned about 0.30% of Evergy worth $47,057,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of EVRG. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP raised its stake in Evergy by 164.8% in the fourth quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP now owns 2,312,953 shares of the company's stock valued at $142,362,000 after purchasing an additional 1,439,450 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Evergy by 8,154.8% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 973,574 shares of the company's stock valued at $67,128,000 after purchasing an additional 961,780 shares in the last quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP purchased a new stake in Evergy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $55,652,000. Groupama Asset Managment raised its stake in Evergy by 3,216.6% in the fourth quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 880,768 shares of the company's stock valued at $54,211,000 after purchasing an additional 854,212 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Evergy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,488,000. 87.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Evergy Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of Evergy stock traded up $0.06 on Friday, hitting $67.99. The stock had a trading volume of 1,957,652 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,017,773. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. Evergy, Inc. has a one year low of $52.10 and a one year high of $70.36. The stock has a market cap of $15.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.38, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.49. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $66.98 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $65.44.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.66 by ($0.12). Evergy had a return on equity of 8.77% and a net margin of 14.77%. The firm had revenue of $1.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.21 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.54 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Evergy, Inc. will post 3.83 EPS for the current year.

Evergy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be issued a $0.6675 dividend. This represents a $2.67 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.93%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. Evergy's dividend payout ratio is 70.26%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on EVRG shares. Jefferies Financial Group set a $78.00 target price on shares of Evergy and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Evergy in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $75.00 price target on the stock. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of Evergy to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Evergy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Evergy from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $73.19.

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.