Insider Buying: Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) Director Purchases $133,610.80 in Stock

Evergy Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG) Director Jonathan Rolph purchased 1,640 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 11th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $81.47 per share, with a total value of $133,610.80. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 670 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $54,584.90. This represents a -169.07% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Evergy Price Performance

Shares of EVRG stock traded down $0.66 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $80.20. The company had a trading volume of 1,773,840 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,064,105. Evergy Inc. has a 12 month low of $71.20 and a 12 month high of $88.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a current ratio of 0.36. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $83.52 and its 200 day moving average is $83.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.36, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.53.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.07. Evergy had a return on equity of 9.20% and a net margin of 15.19%.The business had revenue of $1.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.36 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.82 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Evergy Inc. will post 4.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Evergy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 18th will be given a $0.695 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 18th. This represents a $2.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. Evergy’s payout ratio is 70.56%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on EVRG shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Evergy in a report on Friday, August 7th. Citigroup raised their price target on Evergy from $95.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Evergy from $88.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. BTIG Research set a $97.00 price target on shares of Evergy in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Evergy from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $90.60.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Evergy

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in Evergy by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 34,801 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,008,000 after acquiring an additional 1,173 shares during the period. Community Bank of Raymore boosted its holdings in Evergy by 6.2% in the 2nd quarter. Community Bank of Raymore now owns 31,764 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,745,000 after purchasing an additional 1,850 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in Evergy by 95.8% in the 2nd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 136,137 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,766,000 after acquiring an additional 66,593 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service lifted its position in Evergy by 1.4% during the second quarter. National Pension Service now owns 17,421 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,506,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares during the period. Finally, Engineers Gate Manager LP bought a new stake in shares of Evergy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,018,000. 87.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Evergy

Evergy, Inc is an investor-owned electric utility that generates, transmits, distributes and sells electricity to residential, commercial, industrial and other customers. The company operates regulated utilities and provides electric service through its Kansas and Missouri subsidiaries.

Evergy serves customers across much of Kansas and in western Missouri, including the Kansas City metropolitan area. Its generation portfolio includes a mix of renewable and conventional resources, such as wind, solar, natural gas and coal, as well as an ownership interest in the Wolf Creek nuclear generating station in Kansas.

The company was formed in 2018 through the merger of Great Plains Energy Incorporated and Westar Energy, Inc Evergy is headquartered in Topeka, Kansas, with significant operations in the Kansas City region.