Inspire Advisors LLC Increases Holdings in Evergy Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG)

Key Points

• Inspire Advisors LLC increased its stake in Evergy Inc. by 33.5% during the 1st quarter, holding 41,969 shares valued at approximately $2.89 million after purchasing an additional 10,540 shares.
• Evergy recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.6675 per share, representing a 3.83% yield with an annualized payout of $2.67.
• Analysts' ratings for Evergy are mixed, with eight buy ratings, one strong buy, and one sell; the average target price for the stock is $74.06.

Inspire Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Evergy Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG - Free Report) by 33.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 41,969 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 10,540 shares during the quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC's holdings in Evergy were worth $2,894,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Investment Management Corp VA ADV grew its holdings in Evergy by 168.4% during the first quarter. Investment Management Corp VA ADV now owns 569 shares of the company's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 357 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC grew its holdings in Evergy by 4.7% during the first quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 8,029 shares of the company's stock worth $554,000 after purchasing an additional 364 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in Evergy by 0.8% during the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 84,263 shares of the company's stock worth $5,810,000 after purchasing an additional 640 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Evergy by 10.4% during the first quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,773 shares of the company's stock worth $605,000 after purchasing an additional 829 shares during the period. Finally, Caliber Wealth Management LLC KS bought a new position in Evergy during the first quarter worth about $444,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.24% of the company's stock.

Evergy Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of EVRG traded up $0.53 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $70.24. 849,546 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,315,550. Evergy Inc. has a 52 week low of $57.25 and a 52 week high of $70.49. 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 $16.16 billion, a PE ratio of 18.48, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.50. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $67.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $66.92.

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

Evergy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd were paid a $0.6675 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.67 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.80%. Evergy's dividend payout ratio is presently 70.26%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on EVRG. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded Evergy to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen cut Evergy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Citigroup upped their price objective 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 price objective on Evergy and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on Evergy from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. One 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 company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Evergy has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $74.06.

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.