AQR Capital Management LLC Acquires 321,406 Shares of Evergy Inc. $EVRG

Key Points

• AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Evergy Inc. by 27.7%, acquiring a total of 1,482,508 shares valued at approximately $101.7 million.
• Evergy's stock has received positive analyst ratings with a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $74.44.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.6675 per share, representing an annualized dividend yield of 3.7% and a payout ratio of 73.35%.

AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Evergy Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG - Free Report) by 27.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,482,508 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 321,406 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC owned 0.64% of Evergy worth $101,715,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Evergy by 16.7% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,737,480 shares of the company's stock worth $188,749,000 after acquiring an additional 392,361 shares during the last quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Evergy in the first quarter worth about $267,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in shares of Evergy in the fourth quarter worth about $1,728,000. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Evergy by 26.6% in the first quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 124,115 shares of the company's stock worth $8,558,000 after acquiring an additional 26,086 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Evergy by 9.5% in the first quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 4,562 shares of the company's stock worth $315,000 after acquiring an additional 396 shares during the last quarter. 87.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on EVRG. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Evergy from $73.00 to $71.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Evergy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Evergy in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $75.00 price target for the company. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Evergy from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $78.00 target price on shares of Evergy and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and eight have issued a Buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $74.44.

Evergy Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of Evergy stock traded up $0.33 on Tuesday, hitting $71.10. The company had a trading volume of 1,453,350 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,324,176. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.53, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.58. Evergy Inc. has a twelve month low of $59.00 and a twelve month high of $73.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 0.50 and a quick ratio of 0.27. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $70.77 and a 200-day moving average of $68.46.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.45 billion. Evergy had a net margin of 14.29% and a return on equity of 8.62%. The business's quarterly revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.90 earnings per share. Evergy has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.920-4.120 EPS. Research analysts predict that Evergy Inc. will post 3.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Evergy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 19th. Investors of record on Friday, August 22nd will be given a $0.6675 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 22nd. This represents a $2.67 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. Evergy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 73.35%.

Evergy Profile

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.