Ann Murtlow Sells 2,847 Shares of Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) Stock

Evergy Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG) Director Ann Murtlow sold 2,847 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.34, for a total transaction of $234,421.98. Following the sale, the director directly owned 2,311 shares in the company, valued at approximately $190,287.74. This represents a 55.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Evergy Stock Performance

Evergy stock traded up $0.30 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $82.80. 1,940,477 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,227,373. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $76.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $75.22. The company has a market capitalization of $19.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.66. Evergy Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $61.94 and a fifty-two week high of $83.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 0.49 and a quick ratio of 0.27.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Saturday, January 31st. The company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter. Evergy had a net margin of 14.35% and a return on equity of 8.79%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Evergy Inc. will post 3.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Evergy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.695 per share. This represents a $2.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. Evergy’s payout ratio is presently 75.75%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Evergy

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in Evergy by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 24,981 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,826,000 after buying an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. raised its position in shares of Evergy by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 8,990 shares of the company’s stock worth $652,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Evergy by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 46,972 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,571,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Evergy by 17.7% during the 3rd quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 979 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Modern Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Evergy by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,926 shares of the company’s stock valued at $603,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the period. 87.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Evergy from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $91.00 price objective on shares of Evergy in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Mizuho set a $82.00 price objective on shares of Evergy in a report on Monday. UBS Group cut shares of Evergy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $86.00 to $88.00 in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Evergy from $79.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.88.

Evergy Company Profile

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.