Hsbc Holdings PLC Makes New Investment in Evergy Inc. $EVRG

Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new stake in shares of Evergy Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 614,758 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $53,210,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned 0.27% of Evergy at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in EVRG. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new position in shares of Evergy during the 2nd quarter worth about $12,791,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in Evergy in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $138,233,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new position in Evergy in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $54,307,000. Fiduciary Financial Advisors bought a new position in Evergy in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Evergy during the second quarter worth approximately $55,000. 87.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Sandra Aj Lawrence sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.41, for a total value of $48,846.00. Following the sale, the director owned 680 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $55,358.80. The trade was a 46.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Charles A. Caisley sold 10,787 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.46, for a total transaction of $900,283.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 37,789 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,153,869.94. This trade represents a 22.21% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 11,987 shares of company stock valued at $998,471. Corporate insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on EVRG. Barclays increased their price objective on Evergy from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Evergy from $95.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Evergy from $88.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Evergy in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, BTIG Research set a $97.00 price objective on shares of Evergy in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. 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, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $90.60.

Evergy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EVRG opened at $82.23 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.96 billion, a PE ratio of 20.87, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. Evergy Inc. has a 1-year low of $70.42 and a 1-year high of $88.62. The business’s 50 day moving average is $84.66 and its 200-day moving average is $82.95.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $1.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.36 billion. Evergy had a return on equity of 9.20% and a net margin of 15.19%.During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.82 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Evergy Inc. will post 4.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Evergy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 18th will be paid a $0.695 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 18th. This represents a $2.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Evergy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 70.56%.

About Evergy

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.