Swiss National Bank Boosts Stock Holdings in Evergy Inc. $EVRG

Swiss National Bank grew its stake in shares of Evergy Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG) by 7.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 675,726 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 45,000 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned 0.29% of Evergy worth $55,355,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in EVRG. Goelzer Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Evergy during the fourth quarter worth about $1,073,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Evergy by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 316,511 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,944,000 after purchasing an additional 14,907 shares in the last quarter. Vestcor Inc grew its holdings in shares of Evergy by 49.6% during the 4th quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 174,330 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,637,000 after purchasing an additional 57,795 shares during the period. Qsemble Capital Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Evergy by 295.4% during the 4th quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP now owns 105,780 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,668,000 after purchasing an additional 79,029 shares during the period. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its position in Evergy by 9.7% during the 4th quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 768,034 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,675,000 after purchasing an additional 67,850 shares in the last quarter. 87.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EVRG has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Evergy from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. BTIG Research began coverage on shares of Evergy in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $99.00 price objective for the company. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Evergy from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Evergy from $89.00 to $88.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $87.00 price target on shares of Evergy in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Evergy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $90.10.

Insider Activity at Evergy

In other Evergy news, Director Sandra Aj Lawrence sold 600 shares of Evergy stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.41, for a total transaction of $48,846.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 680 shares in the company, valued at $55,358.80. The trade was a 46.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Charles A. Caisley sold 10,787 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.46, for a total value of $900,283.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 37,789 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,153,869.94. The trade was a 22.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold a total of 12,748 shares of company stock worth $1,061,870 over the last 90 days. 1.52% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Evergy Stock Performance

Shares of EVRG stock opened at $84.92 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.45 and a quick ratio of 0.24. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $84.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $81.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.54. Evergy Inc. has a 12 month low of $68.00 and a 12 month high of $88.62.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.06. Evergy had a return on equity of 9.09% and a net margin of 14.63%.The company had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.27 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.54 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Evergy Inc. will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Evergy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.695 per share. This represents a $2.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 22nd. Evergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 73.74%.

About Evergy

Evergy, Inc is a regulated electric utility that generates, transmits and distributes electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers primarily across Kansas and western Missouri. The company provides core utility services including retail electric delivery, grid operations, customer service and outage restoration, operating under state regulatory frameworks. Evergy serves a mix of urban and rural communities, including portions of the Kansas City metropolitan area and other population centers in its service territory.

The company’s business activities span power generation, system planning, transmission and distribution infrastructure, and customer-facing programs such as energy efficiency and demand-side management.