LaFleur & Godfrey LLC Acquires 1,700 Shares of Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG)

LaFleur & Godfrey LLC increased its holdings in Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG) by 11.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,492 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,700 shares during the period. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC’s holdings in Evergy were worth $1,015,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its stake in Evergy by 2.2% during the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 7,778 shares of the company’s stock worth $482,000 after buying an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its position in Evergy by 47.1% during the 3rd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 531 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC increased its holdings in Evergy by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 7,751 shares of the company’s stock valued at $481,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC raised its position in Evergy by 2.5% in the 4th 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. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its stake in Evergy by 1.2% in the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 18,563 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,138,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EVRG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays cut their price target on Evergy from $67.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 21st. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of Evergy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $59.00 to $68.50 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of Evergy in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $67.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Evergy from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Evergy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $64.06.

Evergy Price Performance

Shares of EVRG opened at $63.16 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The stock has a market cap of $14.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.64. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $62.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $60.27. Evergy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $48.04 and a 1 year high of $65.47.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.35 billion. Evergy had a net margin of 14.77% and a return on equity of 8.77%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.88 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Evergy, Inc. will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Evergy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were paid a $0.6675 dividend. This represents a $2.67 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.23%. This is a boost from Evergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 21st. Evergy’s payout ratio is presently 72.16%.

Insider Transactions at Evergy

In other Evergy news, EVP Kevin E. Bryant sold 48,141 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.93, for a total transaction of $3,029,513.13. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1 shares in the company, valued at approximately $62.93. This represents a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 3.26% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.