QRG Capital Management Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Evergy Inc. $EVRG

QRG Capital Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Evergy Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG) by 47.8% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 167,801 shares of the company’s stock after selling 153,519 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Evergy were worth $12,756,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. AlphaCore Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Evergy in the 2nd quarter worth $33,000. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Evergy in the second quarter valued at about $42,000. Bfsg LLC grew its position in shares of Evergy by 82.2% in the second quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 665 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. MUFG Securities EMEA plc purchased a new stake in shares of Evergy during the second quarter worth about $47,000. Finally, Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Evergy during the second quarter worth about $48,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.24% of the company’s stock.

Evergy Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of Evergy stock opened at $76.44 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $74.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $73.58. The stock has a market cap of $17.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.94, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.67. Evergy Inc. has a 1-year low of $61.94 and a 1-year high of $79.32.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.14 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. Evergy had a return on equity of 8.66% and a net margin of 14.45%.The business’s quarterly revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.02 EPS. Analysts predict that Evergy Inc. will post 3.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Evergy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 21st were given a dividend of $0.695 per share. This represents a $2.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 21st. This is a positive change from Evergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Evergy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 76.16%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on EVRG. Mizuho reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $76.00 price target (down from $86.00) on shares of Evergy in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Evergy from $77.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Evergy from $79.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Evergy to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Evergy in a report on Monday, December 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Evergy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $82.75.

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.