Kestra Advisory Services LLC Reduces Stock Position in Evergy Inc. $EVRG

Key Points

• Kestra Advisory Services LLC reduced its holdings in Evergy Inc. by 38.1%, ending the first quarter with 12,079 shares valued at approximately $833,000.
• Other institutional investors increased their stakes in Evergy, with Northern Trust Corp raising its position by 16.7% and Sowel Financial Services LLC purchasing a new stake valued at $267,000.
• Evergy has achieved a consensus "Buy" rating from analysts, with price targets ranging from $74.00 to $79.00, indicating optimism about the company's growth potential.

Kestra Advisory Services LLC lessened its stake in Evergy Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG - Free Report) by 38.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 12,079 shares of the company's stock after selling 7,438 shares during the period. Kestra Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Evergy were worth $833,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in EVRG. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Evergy in the 1st quarter valued at $212,132,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Evergy by 8,154.8% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 973,574 shares of the company's stock valued at $67,128,000 after buying an additional 961,780 shares during the last quarter. Maple Brown Abbott Ltd bought a new stake in Evergy during the 1st quarter valued at $63,444,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. bought a new stake in Evergy during the 1st quarter valued at $40,285,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Evergy by 16.7% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,737,480 shares of the company's stock valued at $188,749,000 after buying an additional 392,361 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.24% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on EVRG. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Evergy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Evergy in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $75.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group set a $78.00 price objective on shares of Evergy and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of Evergy to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Evergy from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and eight have given a Buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Evergy has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $74.44.

Evergy Stock Up 0.0%

Evergy stock traded up $0.02 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $71.60. The company had a trading volume of 2,182,774 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,329,989. The company has a current ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $70.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $68.39. Evergy Inc. has a 12 month low of $59.00 and a 12 month high of $73.97. The company has a market capitalization of $16.48 billion, a PE ratio of 19.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.58.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.45 billion. Evergy had a return on equity of 8.62% and a net margin of 14.29%.The company's revenue for the quarter was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.90 earnings per share. Evergy has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.920-4.120 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Evergy Inc. will post 3.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Evergy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.6675 per share. This represents a $2.67 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 22nd. Evergy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 73.35%.

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.