Clearbridge Investments LLC Has $1.86 Million Holdings in Evergy, Inc. (NYSE:EVRG)

Clearbridge Investments LLC lessened its stake in Evergy, Inc. (NYSE:EVRG) by 11.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 35,639 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,568 shares during the quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings in Evergy were worth $1,860,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Evergy by 0.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,358,216 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,488,462,000 after purchasing an additional 186,235 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Evergy by 5.1% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,379,004 shares of the company’s stock valued at $272,716,000 after purchasing an additional 261,664 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Evergy by 1.4% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,958,136 shares of the company’s stock valued at $149,977,000 after purchasing an additional 40,916 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its stake in Evergy by 41.3% during the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,942,415 shares of the company’s stock worth $153,594,000 after acquiring an additional 860,433 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Evergy by 11.6% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,670,913 shares of the company’s stock worth $135,415,000 after acquiring an additional 277,892 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on EVRG shares. Barclays boosted their target price on Evergy from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. Citigroup started coverage on Evergy in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. They set a “buy” rating and a $64.00 target price for the company. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH started coverage on Evergy in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $51.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Evergy from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Finally, Bank of America raised Evergy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $51.00 to $57.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Evergy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $57.83.

Evergy Stock Performance

Evergy stock opened at $53.43 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $52.98 and a 200-day moving average of $51.71. Evergy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $46.92 and a 1 year high of $61.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.32. The company has a market capitalization of $12.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.57.

Evergy (NYSE:EVRG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 9th. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.61 by ($0.07). Evergy had a net margin of 12.84% and a return on equity of 8.32%. The firm had revenue of $1.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.35 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.59 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Evergy, Inc. will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Evergy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be paid a $0.6425 dividend. This represents a $2.57 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. Evergy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 83.17%.

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.