Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Boosts Holdings in Evergy Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in shares of Evergy Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG - Free Report) by 66.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 138,357 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 55,359 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund owned about 0.06% of Evergy worth $9,540,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of EVRG. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Evergy by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,665,885 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,887,485,000 after acquiring an additional 221,086 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Evergy by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,660,930 shares of the company's stock valued at $348,430,000 after acquiring an additional 128,211 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Evergy by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,637,257 shares of the company's stock worth $346,063,000 after purchasing an additional 133,641 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of Evergy by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,555,122 shares of the company's stock worth $218,818,000 after buying an additional 130,804 shares during the period. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake in shares of Evergy by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 3,434,216 shares of the company's stock worth $211,376,000 after acquiring an additional 73,066 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.24% of the company's stock.

Evergy Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of Evergy stock traded up $0.52 on Tuesday, reaching $69.45. The stock had a trading volume of 1,532,054 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,053,560. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.50. Evergy Inc. has a 1 year low of $52.32 and a 1 year high of $70.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $67.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $65.82.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.66 by ($0.12). The business had revenue of $1.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.21 billion. Evergy had a net margin of 14.87% and a return on equity of 8.84%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.54 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Evergy Inc. will post 3.83 EPS for the current year.

Evergy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd were given a dividend of $0.6675 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.67 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.84%. Evergy's dividend payout ratio is currently 70.26%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on EVRG shares. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Evergy in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $75.00 target price on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group set a $78.00 price objective on Evergy and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. UBS Group raised shares of Evergy from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $68.00 to $78.00 in a report on Monday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Evergy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Evergy from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $73.19.

Evergy Company 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.