1,599,359 Shares in Evergy Inc. $EVRG Bought by Legal & General Group Plc

Key Points

• Legal & General Group Plc bought 1,599,359 Evergy shares worth approximately $138.2 million, acquiring a 0.69% stake. Institutional investors now own 87.24% of the utility’s outstanding stock.
• Evergy reported quarterly EPS of $0.88, beating analyst estimates of $0.81, while revenue reached $1.50 billion versus the $1.36 billion consensus forecast.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.695 per share, equal to a $2.78 annualized payout and a 3.4% yield. Meanwhile, insiders sold 11,587 shares worth about $965,655 over the past 90 days, and analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with a $90.60 average price target.

Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in Evergy Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,599,359 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $138,233,000. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.69% of Evergy at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of EVRG. MidFirst Bank bought a new stake in shares of Evergy in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Knuff & Co LLC bought a new position in shares of Evergy during the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Burk Holdings LLC purchased a new position in Evergy during the second quarter worth about $31,000. Clearstead Trust LLC purchased a new position in Evergy during the second quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Fiduciary Financial Advisors purchased a new position in Evergy during the second quarter worth about $34,000. 87.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Sandra Aj Lawrence sold 600 shares of Evergy stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.41, for a total value of $48,846.00. Following the sale, the director owned 680 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $55,358.80. The trade was a 46.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Charles A. Caisley sold 10,787 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.46, for a total value of $900,283.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 37,789 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,153,869.94. The trade was a 22.21% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 11,587 shares of company stock worth $965,655 in the last ninety days. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Evergy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EVRG opened at $81.42 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $18.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.54. The company's 50-day moving average is $84.64 and its 200 day moving average is $82.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a current ratio of 0.36. Evergy Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $70.42 and a fifty-two week high of $88.62.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $1.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.36 billion. Evergy had a net margin of 15.19% and a return on equity of 9.20%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.82 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Evergy Inc. will post 4.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Evergy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.695 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 18th. This represents a $2.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Evergy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 70.56%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Evergy from $95.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Evergy in a research note on Friday, August 7th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Evergy from $88.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. UBS Group increased their price target on Evergy from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, BTIG Research set a $97.00 price target on Evergy in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $90.60.

About Evergy

Evergy, Inc is a regulated electric utility that generates, transmits and distributes electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers primarily across Kansas and western Missouri. The company provides core utility services including retail electric delivery, grid operations, customer service and outage restoration, operating under state regulatory frameworks. Evergy serves a mix of urban and rural communities, including portions of the Kansas City metropolitan area and other population centers in its service territory.

The company's business activities span power generation, system planning, transmission and distribution infrastructure, and customer-facing programs such as energy efficiency and demand-side management.

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