Magellan Asset Management Ltd Sells 34,784 Shares of Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG)

Magellan Asset Management Ltd decreased its holdings in shares of Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG) by 17.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 162,386 shares of the company’s stock after selling 34,784 shares during the period. Magellan Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Evergy were worth $9,995,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in EVRG. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Evergy by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,665,885 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,887,485,000 after acquiring an additional 221,086 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Evergy by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,660,930 shares of the company’s stock valued at $348,430,000 after purchasing an additional 128,211 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Evergy by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,637,257 shares of the company’s stock valued at $346,063,000 after purchasing an additional 133,641 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Evergy by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,555,122 shares of the company’s stock worth $218,818,000 after buying an additional 130,804 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Evergy by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,085,401 shares of the company’s stock worth $189,906,000 after buying an additional 256,978 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.24% of the company’s stock.

Evergy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EVRG opened at $69.43 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $66.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $63.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.97 billion, a PE ratio of 18.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.62. Evergy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $49.55 and a twelve month high of $69.93.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.46 by ($0.11). Evergy had a return on equity of 8.77% and a net margin of 14.77%. The company had revenue of $1.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.24 billion. Equities research analysts expect that Evergy, Inc. will post 3.83 EPS for the current year.

Evergy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $0.6675 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $2.67 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.85%. Evergy’s payout ratio is currently 70.45%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Evergy from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Barclays upped their price target on Evergy from $62.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised Evergy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Guggenheim raised Evergy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.08.

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.