11,161 Shares in Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG) Purchased by Virtu Financial LLC

Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 11,161 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $692,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. M&T Bank Corp raised its holdings in shares of Evergy by 0.8% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 170,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,560,000 after purchasing an additional 1,272 shares during the last quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Evergy by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 54,859 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,402,000 after buying an additional 3,836 shares during the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its position in Evergy by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 7,778 shares of the company’s stock worth $482,000 after buying an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its stake in shares of Evergy by 18.6% during the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 135,274 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,388,000 after buying an additional 21,257 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. grew its holdings in shares of Evergy by 16.4% in the 3rd quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 1,822,647 shares of the company’s stock valued at $113,022,000 after acquiring an additional 256,361 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.24% of the company’s stock.

Evergy Price Performance

Shares of EVRG opened at $61.91 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $62.08 and its 200-day moving average is $58.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.24 billion, a PE ratio of 16.73, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.64. Evergy, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $48.04 and a fifty-two week high of $65.47.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.07. Evergy had a net margin of 14.77% and a return on equity of 8.77%. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.35 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.88 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Evergy, Inc. will post 3.85 EPS for the current year.

Evergy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.6675 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This is an increase from Evergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. This represents a $2.67 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.31%. Evergy’s payout ratio is 72.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Evergy

In other Evergy news, EVP Kevin E. Bryant sold 48,141 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.93, for a total transaction of $3,029,513.13. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1 shares in the company, valued at $62.93. This represents a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on EVRG. UBS Group upgraded Evergy to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Evergy in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Evergy from $67.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 21st. Mizuho started coverage on shares of Evergy in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $67.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Evergy from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.88.

About Evergy

Evergy, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, transmission, distribution, and sale of electricity in the United States. The company generates electricity through coal, landfill gas, uranium, and natural gas and oil sources, as well as solar, wind, other renewable sources. It serves residences, commercial firms, industrials, municipalities, and other electric utilities.