Prudential Financial Inc. Sells 79,221 Shares of Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG)

Prudential Financial Inc. reduced its holdings in Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG) by 39.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 122,899 shares of the company’s stock after selling 79,221 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in Evergy were worth $7,750,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of EVRG. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new position in Evergy during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. National Pension Service acquired a new stake in Evergy in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust bought a new position in shares of Evergy during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Sandy Spring Bank raised its position in shares of Evergy by 5,983.3% during the fourth quarter. Sandy Spring Bank now owns 730 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 718 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Evergy in the fourth quarter valued at about $49,000. 87.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Evergy Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ EVRG opened at $67.87 on Friday. Evergy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $49.55 and a 52-week high of $69.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.55. The business has a fifty day moving average of $66.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $63.32. The stock has a market cap of $15.61 billion, a PE ratio of 18.34, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.62.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) last announced its quarterly 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.24 billion. Evergy had a net margin of 14.77% and a return on equity of 8.77%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Evergy, Inc. will post 3.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Evergy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $0.6675 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $2.67 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.93%. Evergy’s dividend payout ratio is 70.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on EVRG. Barclays boosted their price target on Evergy from $62.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded Evergy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Evergy from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Guggenheim upgraded shares of Evergy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Evergy has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $69.08.

Evergy 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.