Ancora Advisors LLC Maintains Stake in Westar Energy, Inc. (WR)

Ancora Advisors LLC maintained its position in shares of Westar Energy, Inc. (NYSE:WR) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 7,200 shares of the company’s stock at the end of the fourth quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC’s holdings in Westar Energy were worth $406,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WR. Cantab Capital Partners LLP increased its position in shares of Westar Energy by 14.2% in the second quarter. Cantab Capital Partners LLP now owns 20,272 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,137,000 after buying an additional 2,520 shares during the last quarter. Leucadia National Corp bought a new position in shares of Westar Energy during the second quarter valued at approximately $10,596,000. Frontier Investment Mgmt Co. increased its position in shares of Westar Energy by 3.2% in the second quarter. Frontier Investment Mgmt Co. now owns 68,510 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,840,000 after buying an additional 2,115 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. increased its position in shares of Westar Energy by 259.7% in the second quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 1,227,839 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,869,000 after buying an additional 886,497 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Yakira Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Westar Energy during the second quarter valued at approximately $4,414,000. 70.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Westar Energy (NYSE:WR)

Shares of Westar Energy, Inc. (NYSE:WR) traded up 1.51% during trading on Friday, reaching $53.80. 748,283 shares of the company were exchanged. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $54.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $55.69. Westar Energy, Inc. has a one year low of $41.89 and a one year high of $57.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.63 billion, a PE ratio of 23.12 and a beta of 0.38.

Westar Energy (NYSE:WR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 22nd. The company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $606.53 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $578.83 million. Westar Energy had a net margin of 13.27% and a return on equity of 8.91%. Westar Energy’s revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.28 EPS. Analysts forecast that Westar Energy, Inc. will post $2.52 EPS for the current year.

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, March 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 7th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.97%. This is a boost from Westar Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Westar Energy’s payout ratio is currently 65.24%.

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Separately, Zacks Investment Research raised shares of Westar Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $64.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have issued a hold rating to the company. Westar Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $57.00.

About Westar Energy

Westar Energy, Inc (Westar Energy) is an electric utility in Kansas. The Company provides electric generation, transmission and distribution services to approximately 700,000 customers in Kansas. The Company provides these services in central and northeastern Kansas, including the cities of Topeka, Lawrence, Manhattan, Salina and Hutchinson.

5 Day Chart for NYSE:WR

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