Crawford Investment Counsel Inc. Sells 8,843 Shares of Evergy Inc. $EVRG

Crawford Investment Counsel Inc. cut its stake in Evergy Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 383,913 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,843 shares during the quarter. Crawford Investment Counsel Inc. owned 0.17% of Evergy worth $27,830,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd bought a new stake in Evergy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $72,860,000. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC increased its stake in Evergy by 32.5% during the 3rd quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 83,233 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,327,000 after purchasing an additional 20,395 shares in the last quarter. Goelzer Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Evergy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,073,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. increased its stake in Evergy by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 316,511 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,944,000 after purchasing an additional 14,907 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in Evergy by 41.5% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 52,427 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,986,000 after purchasing an additional 15,379 shares in the last quarter. 87.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Evergy

In other news, EVP Charles A. Caisley sold 10,787 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.46, for a total transaction of $900,283.02. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 37,789 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,153,869.94. This trade represents a 22.21% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, Director Sandra Aj Lawrence sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.41, for a total transaction of $48,846.00. Following the sale, the director owned 680 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $55,358.80. This represents a 46.88% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 12,748 shares of company stock valued at $1,061,870. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Evergy Trading Up 0.6%

NASDAQ EVRG opened at $83.97 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $19.36 billion, a PE ratio of 22.27, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. Evergy Inc. has a 12 month low of $66.19 and a 12 month high of $85.27. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $82.42 and a 200-day moving average of $79.32.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.06. Evergy had a return on equity of 9.09% and a net margin of 14.63%.The company had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.27 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.54 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Evergy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.140-4.340 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Evergy Inc. will post 4.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Evergy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.695 per share. This represents a $2.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 22nd. Evergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 73.74%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on EVRG. Barclays increased their target price on Evergy from $82.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Mizuho set a $82.00 price target on Evergy in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Citigroup upped their price target on Evergy from $89.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. BTIG Research started coverage on Evergy in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $99.00 price target for the company. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price target on Evergy from $89.00 to $88.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.60.

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.