84,669 Evergy Inc. $EVRG Shares Bought by Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its position in shares of Evergy Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG) by 73.5% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 199,846 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 84,669 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Evergy were worth $15,676,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of EVRG. Magellan Asset Management Ltd purchased a new position in Evergy in the second quarter worth about $187,857,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in shares of Evergy in the second quarter worth approximately $138,233,000. Energy Income Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Evergy during the second quarter valued at approximately $110,394,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new stake in shares of Evergy during the second quarter valued at approximately $54,307,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new stake in shares of Evergy during the second quarter valued at approximately $53,210,000. 87.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EVRG has been the subject of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Evergy in a research report on Wednesday, November 4th. Wall Street Zen cut Evergy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 7th. TD Cowen began coverage on Evergy in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $95.00 price objective on the stock. DA Davidson set a $85.00 target price on Evergy in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Evergy in a research note on Friday, October 9th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $90.69.

Insider Activity at Evergy

In related news, Director Jonathan Rolph purchased 1,640 shares of Evergy stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 11th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $81.47 per share, for a total transaction of $133,610.80. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 670 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $54,584.90. The trade was a -169.07% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.52% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Evergy Price Performance

NASDAQ EVRG opened at $88.34 on Thursday. Evergy Inc. has a one year low of $71.40 and a one year high of $89.66. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $82.23 and a 200 day moving average of $82.44. The company has a market capitalization of $20.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.63, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.49.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.33 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $2.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.93 billion. Evergy had a return on equity of 10.33% and a net margin of 16.67%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.03 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Evergy Inc. will post 4.41 EPS for the current year.

Evergy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 20th will be paid a $0.7225 dividend. This is a boost from Evergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.6950. This represents a $2.89 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 20th. Evergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.22%.

Evergy Profile

Evergy, Inc. is an investor-owned electric utility that generates, transmits and distributes electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers in Kansas and Missouri. Its operations include power plants and the infrastructure needed to deliver electricity across its service territory. The company was formed in 2018 through the merger of Westar Energy and Great Plains Energy, the parent company of Kansas City Power & Light. Evergy is headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, and serves communities across the two states.