Advocate Group LLC Purchases 12,918 Shares of Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG)

Advocate Group LLC boosted its position in Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG) by 10.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 132,568 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,918 shares during the period. Evergy makes up approximately 1.5% of Advocate Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Advocate Group LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Evergy worth $8,160,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Evergy by 391.1% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 97,186 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,030,000 after purchasing an additional 77,398 shares during the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp raised its stake in shares of Evergy by 60.6% during the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 44,024 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,332,000 after acquiring an additional 16,619 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in shares of Evergy by 29.1% during the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 997,832 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,806,000 after acquiring an additional 224,679 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of Evergy by 34.0% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 945,148 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,609,000 after acquiring an additional 239,599 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Evergy by 2.9% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 515,306 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,954,000 after acquiring an additional 14,383 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on EVRG. Mizuho began coverage on shares of Evergy in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $67.00 price target for the company. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Evergy from $67.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Guggenheim raised shares of Evergy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of Evergy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $59.00 to $68.50 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Evergy from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Evergy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $65.79.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Kevin E. Bryant sold 48,141 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.93, for a total transaction of $3,029,513.13. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1 shares in the company, valued at $62.93. The trade was a 100.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Evergy Price Performance

NASDAQ EVRG opened at $63.52 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $62.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $60.53. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. Evergy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $48.04 and a 12-month high of $65.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.64.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.07. Evergy had a net margin of 14.77% and a return on equity of 8.77%. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.35 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.88 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Evergy, Inc. will post 3.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Evergy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were issued a dividend of $0.6675 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 21st. This is a positive change from Evergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. This represents a $2.67 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.20%. Evergy’s payout ratio is 72.16%.

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.