920,064 Shares in Evergy Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG) Purchased by Maple Brown Abbott Ltd

Key Points

• Maple Brown Abbott Ltd has acquired a new position in Evergy, purchasing 920,064 shares valued at approximately $63.4 million, which represents about 4.3% of its portfolio.
• Other institutional investors have also been active in Evergy, with notable purchases including Nuveen LLC's $212 million stake and GAMMA Investing LLC's increased holdings by over 8,154%.
• Evergy's most recent earnings report showed a net margin of 14.29% and a dividend of $0.6675 per share, reflecting a 3.7% yield with a payout ratio of 73.35%.

Maple Brown Abbott Ltd bought a new position in Evergy Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 920,064 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $63,444,000. Evergy makes up approximately 4.3% of Maple Brown Abbott Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Maple Brown Abbott Ltd owned about 0.40% of Evergy as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of EVRG. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Evergy in the first quarter worth $212,132,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Evergy by 8,154.8% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 973,574 shares of the company's stock worth $67,128,000 after acquiring an additional 961,780 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. bought a new stake in Evergy during the first quarter valued at about $40,285,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Evergy during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,488,000. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors grew its holdings in Evergy by 67.2% during the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,113,538 shares of the company's stock valued at $68,538,000 after purchasing an additional 447,558 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.24% of the company's stock.

Evergy Price Performance

Shares of Evergy stock traded down $0.86 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $71.95. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,124,760 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,355,073. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $69.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $67.71. Evergy Inc. has a 12-month low of $57.82 and a 12-month high of $73.97. The company has a market cap of $16.56 billion, a PE ratio of 19.77, a PEG ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.50.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.04. Evergy had a return on equity of 8.62% and a net margin of 14.29%. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.45 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.90 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect 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 will be paid on Friday, September 19th. Investors of record on Friday, August 22nd will be given a $0.6675 dividend. This represents a $2.67 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 22nd. Evergy's payout ratio is currently 73.35%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EVRG has been the subject of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group set a $78.00 price target on Evergy and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Mizuho boosted their price target on Evergy from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Citigroup boosted 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. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised Evergy to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Evergy in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $75.00 price target for the company. One investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $74.44.

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.