Federated Hermes Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Evergy, Inc. (NYSE:EVRG)

Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake in Evergy, Inc. (NYSE:EVRG) by 41.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,942,415 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 860,433 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. owned approximately 1.28% of Evergy worth $153,594,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Evergy by 201,851.5% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 93,428,842 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,879,477,000 after acquiring an additional 93,382,579 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 186,235 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Evergy by 10.8% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,874,020 shares of the company’s stock valued at $948,151,000 after acquiring an additional 1,356,321 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Evergy by 3,322.0% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,433,440 shares of the company’s stock valued at $637,693,000 after acquiring an additional 10,128,549 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 261,664 shares during the last quarter. 87.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EVRG has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Evergy from $60.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Citigroup initiated coverage on Evergy in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. They set a “buy” rating and a $64.00 price target on the stock. Guggenheim cut Evergy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $52.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Barclays upped their price target on Evergy from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH initiated coverage on Evergy in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $51.00 price target on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $56.00.

Evergy Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE EVRG traded down $0.08 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $50.45. The company had a trading volume of 391,726 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,577,834. The company has a market capitalization of $11.59 billion, a PE ratio of 13.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.29. Evergy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $46.92 and a 1-year high of $63.84. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $51.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $50.86.

Evergy (NYSE:EVRG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.30 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.46 billion. Evergy had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 8.47%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.30 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Evergy, Inc. will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Evergy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, March 11th were issued a $0.6425 dividend. This represents a $2.57 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. Evergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.