Evergy Inc. $EVRG Position Lowered by IFM Investors Pty Ltd

Key Points

• IFM Investors Pty Ltd reduced its stake in Evergy Inc. by 22.9%, leaving them with 46,369 shares worth approximately $3.2 million at the end of the first quarter.
• Evergy's stock has received a consensus rating of "Buy" from analysts, with a price target averaging $74.44, indicating positive sentiment on the stock's performance.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.6675 per share, yielding 3.7%, with the payment scheduled for September 19, 2023.

IFM Investors Pty Ltd decreased its position in Evergy Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG - Free Report) by 22.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 46,369 shares of the company's stock after selling 13,752 shares during the period. IFM Investors Pty Ltd's holdings in Evergy were worth $3,197,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Evergy in the 1st quarter valued at about $212,132,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Evergy by 8,154.8% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 973,574 shares of the company's stock valued at $67,128,000 after purchasing an additional 961,780 shares in the last quarter. Maple Brown Abbott Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Evergy in the first quarter valued at approximately $63,444,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Evergy during the 1st quarter worth approximately $40,285,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Evergy by 16.7% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,737,480 shares of the company's stock worth $188,749,000 after purchasing an additional 392,361 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.24% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Evergy

In related news, SVP Lesley Lissette Elwell sold 8,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.33, for a total transaction of $578,640.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 499 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $36,092.67. The trade was a 94.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.42% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Evergy Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of EVRG traded up $0.50 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $71.85. The company had a trading volume of 531,495 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,296,638. The stock has a market cap of $16.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $71.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $68.59. Evergy Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $59.00 and a fifty-two week high of $73.97.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.45 billion. Evergy had a return on equity of 8.62% and a net margin of 14.29%.The company's revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.90 EPS. Evergy has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.920-4.120 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Evergy Inc. will post 3.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Evergy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 19th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.7%. Evergy's dividend payout ratio is presently 73.35%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EVRG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Mizuho upped their target price on Evergy from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Evergy from $73.00 to $71.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Wall Street Zen cut Evergy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $78.00 target price on shares of Evergy and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and eight have given a Buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Evergy presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $74.44.

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.