Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Sells 16,529 Shares of Evergy Inc. $EVRG

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lessened its stake in shares of Evergy Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG) by 7.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 213,441 shares of the company’s stock after selling 16,529 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC owned approximately 0.09% of Evergy worth $15,472,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in EVRG. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new stake in Evergy during the 4th quarter valued at $257,000. United Services Automobile Association bought a new stake in Evergy in the 1st quarter worth $223,000. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in shares of Evergy by 19.5% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 4,648 shares of the company’s stock valued at $320,000 after acquiring an additional 758 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP increased its position in shares of Evergy by 40.7% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 19,429 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,340,000 after acquiring an additional 5,618 shares during the period. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth increased its position in shares of Evergy by 7.3% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 13,791 shares of the company’s stock valued at $951,000 after acquiring an additional 939 shares during the period. 87.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Evergy Stock Performance

Shares of Evergy stock opened at $80.85 on Friday. Evergy Inc. has a 12 month low of $61.94 and a 12 month high of $85.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.65. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $80.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $76.79. The company has a current ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27.

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

Evergy Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on EVRG shares. Barclays increased their price objective on Evergy from $82.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 9th. Citigroup raised their price target on Evergy from $89.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Mizuho set a $82.00 price objective on shares of Evergy in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Evergy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Evergy from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.75.

Insider Activity at Evergy

In other news, Director Ann D. Murtlow sold 2,847 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.34, for a total value of $234,421.98. Following the sale, the director directly owned 2,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $190,287.74. This represents a 55.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Heather A. Humphrey sold 3,650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.61, for a total value of $301,526.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 44,007 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,635,418.27. The trade was a 7.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 8,937 shares of company stock valued at $736,492 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.42% of the company’s stock.

Evergy 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.