Federated Hermes Inc. Sells 42,638 Shares of Evergy Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG)

Key Points

• Federated Hermes Inc. reduced its stake in Evergy Inc. by 1.2%, now owning 3,391,578 shares valued at approximately $233.8 million after selling 42,638 shares in the first quarter.
• Evergy's quarterly earnings report showed $0.54 EPS, missing the consensus estimate of $0.66, while the company had revenue of $1.37 billion, surpassing the expected $1.21 billion.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.6675 per share, which yields 3.91%, and has a payout ratio of 70.26%.

Federated Hermes Inc. reduced its position in Evergy Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG - Free Report) by 1.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,391,578 shares of the company's stock after selling 42,638 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. owned approximately 1.47% of Evergy worth $233,849,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Evergy by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,660,930 shares of the company's stock valued at $348,430,000 after acquiring an additional 128,211 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Evergy by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,637,257 shares of the company's stock valued at $346,063,000 after buying an additional 133,641 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Evergy by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,345,119 shares of the company's stock valued at $144,342,000 after buying an additional 125,898 shares during the last quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Evergy by 164.8% during the fourth quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP now owns 2,312,953 shares of the company's stock valued at $142,362,000 after buying an additional 1,439,450 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of Evergy by 11.2% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,730,849 shares of the company's stock valued at $119,342,000 after buying an additional 174,269 shares during the last quarter. 87.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EVRG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup lifted their price target on Evergy from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $78.00 target price on Evergy and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised Evergy to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on Evergy in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $75.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on Evergy from $73.00 to $71.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $74.06.

Evergy Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of Evergy stock traded up $0.57 on Friday, hitting $71.37. 1,311,400 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,318,627. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. Evergy Inc. has a 12-month low of $57.28 and a 12-month high of $71.63. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $68.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $67.04. The company has a market cap of $16.42 billion, a PE ratio of 18.78, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.50.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). The business had revenue of $1.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.21 billion. Evergy had a net margin of 14.87% and a return on equity of 8.84%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.54 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Evergy Inc. will post 3.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Evergy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd were given 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 dividend yield of 3.7%. Evergy's dividend payout ratio is currently 70.26%.

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.