Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC Acquires 69,711 Shares of Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG)

Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG) by 75.4% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 162,194 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 69,711 shares during the period. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC’s holdings in Evergy were worth $10,058,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EVRG. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its position in Evergy by 6,854.6% during the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 2,539,001 shares of the company’s stock worth $157,443,000 after buying an additional 2,502,493 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its holdings in shares of Evergy by 7,234.3% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 1,300,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,613,000 after purchasing an additional 1,282,275 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Evergy by 131.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,004,414 shares of the company’s stock valued at $124,294,000 after purchasing an additional 1,138,138 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Evergy by 38.6% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,683,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $195,089,000 after purchasing an additional 1,026,374 shares during the period. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Evergy in the 2nd quarter valued at about $50,044,000. 87.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on EVRG shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Evergy from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Evergy in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $70.00 target price on the stock. Mizuho started coverage on shares of Evergy in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $67.00 target price on the stock. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Evergy from $67.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Evergy to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $61.88.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Kevin E. Bryant sold 48,141 shares of the firm’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 owns 1 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $62.93. This trade represents a 100.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Evergy Stock Performance

NASDAQ EVRG opened at $62.96 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.64. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $61.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $58.49. Evergy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $48.04 and a 1 year high of $65.47.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) last posted 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. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.35 billion. Evergy had a net margin of 14.77% and a return on equity of 8.77%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.88 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Evergy, Inc. will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Evergy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.6675 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $2.67 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.24%. This is an increase from Evergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. Evergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.16%.

Evergy Company Profile

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.