Sandy Spring Bank Raises Stake in Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG)

Sandy Spring Bank increased its stake in Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG) by 5,983.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 730 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 718 shares during the period. Sandy Spring Bank’s holdings in Evergy were worth $45,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY boosted its holdings in shares of Evergy by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 11,741 shares of the company’s stock worth $723,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Evergy by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 3,692 shares of the company’s stock valued at $227,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in Evergy by 2.2% during the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 7,778 shares of the company’s stock valued at $482,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. lifted its holdings in Evergy by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 3,231 shares of the company’s stock valued at $199,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Evergy by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 7,322 shares of the company’s stock valued at $451,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. 87.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on EVRG shares. Guggenheim raised shares of Evergy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays upped their price target on Evergy from $62.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded Evergy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Evergy from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $68.36.

Evergy Stock Down 0.8 %

EVRG stock opened at $67.45 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $15.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.62. The company’s 50 day moving average is $65.73 and its 200 day moving average is $63.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. Evergy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $49.55 and a 1-year high of $69.93.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.46 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $1.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.24 billion. Evergy had a return on equity of 8.77% and a net margin of 14.77%. Sell-side analysts predict that Evergy, Inc. will post 3.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Evergy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $0.6675 dividend. This represents a $2.67 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Evergy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 70.45%.

Evergy Company Profile

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.