Vennlight Capital Management LP Makes New Investment in Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG)

Vennlight Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 168,364 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,363,000. Evergy comprises 9.8% of Vennlight Capital Management LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Vennlight Capital Management LP owned about 0.07% of Evergy as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of EVRG. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its position in Evergy by 18.3% during the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 7,810 shares of the company's stock valued at $481,000 after buying an additional 1,208 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Evergy by 23.1% during the fourth quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,692 shares of the company's stock valued at $658,000 after buying an additional 2,004 shares during the period. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC raised its position in Evergy by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 7,322 shares of the company's stock valued at $451,000 after buying an additional 182 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Evergy during the fourth quarter valued at $269,000. Finally, Trust Co. of Vermont raised its position in Evergy by 18.0% during the fourth quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 1,870 shares of the company's stock valued at $115,000 after buying an additional 285 shares during the period. 87.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on EVRG shares. Wall Street Zen lowered Evergy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday. Barclays upped their target price on Evergy from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. UBS Group raised Evergy from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $68.00 to $78.00 in a research report on Monday, April 28th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised Evergy to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Evergy from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $72.44.

Evergy Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ EVRG traded down $0.12 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $65.80. 1,502,951 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,973,449. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.55. The stock has a market cap of $15.14 billion, a PE ratio of 17.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.53. The company's fifty day moving average is $67.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $65.13. Evergy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $52.10 and a fifty-two week high of $70.36.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.66 by ($0.12). The company had revenue of $1.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.21 billion. Evergy had a net margin of 14.77% and a return on equity of 8.77%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.54 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Evergy, Inc. will post 3.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Evergy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, May 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.6675 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.67 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.06%. Evergy's payout ratio is 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.