Van ECK Associates Corp Acquires 27,088 Shares of Evergy, Inc. (NYSE:EVRG)

Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in Evergy, Inc. (NYSE:EVRG - Free Report) by 52.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 79,181 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 27,088 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp's holdings in Evergy were worth $4,133,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Gilbert & Cook Inc. grew its stake in Evergy by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 7,008 shares of the company's stock valued at $366,000 after acquiring an additional 317 shares during the last quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Evergy during the 4th quarter worth about $418,000. Headlands Technologies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Evergy by 207.9% during the 4th quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 40,009 shares of the company's stock worth $2,088,000 after purchasing an additional 27,016 shares during the last quarter. Syon Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Evergy during the 4th quarter worth about $241,000. Finally, Meritage Portfolio Management boosted its stake in shares of Evergy by 99.2% during the 4th quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 90,844 shares of the company's stock worth $4,742,000 after purchasing an additional 45,232 shares during the last quarter. 87.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on EVRG. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Evergy from $60.00 to $57.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 1st. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH assumed coverage on shares of Evergy in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $51.00 target price on the stock. Guggenheim cut shares of Evergy from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $52.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Evergy from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Evergy from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $51.00 to $57.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Evergy presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $56.00.

Evergy Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE EVRG traded down $0.14 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $53.96. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,469,359 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,514,450. Evergy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $46.92 and a 52-week high of $63.39. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $51.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $51.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.57.

Evergy (NYSE:EVRG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.30 by ($0.03). Evergy had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 8.47%. The business had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.30 EPS. Research analysts expect that Evergy, Inc. will post 3.84 EPS for the current year.

Evergy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 11th were paid a dividend of $0.6425 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. This represents a $2.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.76%. Evergy's dividend payout ratio is currently 80.82%.

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.