Federated Hermes Inc. Sells 42,638 Shares of Evergy Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG)

Federated Hermes Inc. cut its holdings in Evergy Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG) by 1.2% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,391,578 shares of the company’s stock after selling 42,638 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Evergy were worth $233,849,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Stolper Co increased its stake in shares of Evergy by 0.5% in the first quarter. Stolper Co now owns 34,630 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,388,000 after buying an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Evergy by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,946 shares of the company’s stock worth $366,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the period. Retirement Planning Group LLC increased its position in Evergy by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Retirement Planning Group LLC now owns 24,372 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,500,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the period. MainStreet Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Evergy by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. MainStreet Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,877 shares of the company’s stock worth $300,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares during the period. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in Evergy by 2.5% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 9,338 shares of the company’s stock worth $644,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares during the period. 87.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Evergy Price Performance

Evergy stock opened at $68.36 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.99, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.50. Evergy Inc. has a 1 year low of $56.54 and a 1 year high of $70.36. The business has a 50-day moving average of $67.79 and a 200-day moving average of $66.92. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.66 by ($0.12). Evergy had a return on equity of 8.84% and a net margin of 14.87%. The company had revenue of $1.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.21 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.54 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Evergy Inc. will post 3.83 EPS for the current year.

Evergy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.6675 per share. This represents a $2.67 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 23rd. Evergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 70.26%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Evergy in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $75.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group upgraded Evergy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $68.00 to $78.00 in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Evergy from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Wall Street Zen lowered Evergy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded Evergy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.06.

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.