Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Sells 26,509 Shares of Evergy Inc. $EVRG

Key Points

• Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund trimmed its Evergy stake by 13.3% in the first quarter, selling 26,509 shares and leaving it with 172,070 shares worth about $14.1 million.
• Evergy’s latest quarterly results topped expectations, with EPS of $0.69 versus the $0.63 estimate and revenue of $1.44 billion, up 5% from a year earlier.
• The utility continues to attract bullish coverage and income investors: analysts rate it a Moderate Buy with an average target of $90.10, and it recently paid a quarterly dividend of $0.695 per share for a 3.2% annualized yield.

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lessened its holdings in shares of Evergy Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG - Free Report) by 13.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 172,070 shares of the company's stock after selling 26,509 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.07% of Evergy worth $14,096,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Goelzer Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Evergy during the fourth quarter worth $1,073,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Evergy by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 316,511 shares of the company's stock valued at $22,944,000 after purchasing an additional 14,907 shares during the last quarter. Vestcor Inc increased its holdings in shares of Evergy by 49.6% in the fourth quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 174,330 shares of the company's stock valued at $12,637,000 after purchasing an additional 57,795 shares during the last quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP raised its position in shares of Evergy by 295.4% in the fourth quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP now owns 105,780 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,668,000 after purchasing an additional 79,029 shares during the period. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Evergy by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 768,034 shares of the company's stock valued at $55,675,000 after purchasing an additional 67,850 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.24% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Evergy news, EVP Charles A. Caisley sold 10,787 shares of Evergy stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The stock was 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 directly owned 37,789 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,153,869.94. The trade was a 22.21% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, Director Sandra Aj Lawrence sold 761 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.31, for a total value of $63,398.91. Following the sale, the director owned 1,680 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $139,960.80. The trade was a 31.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 12,748 shares of company stock worth $1,061,870. Corporate insiders own 1.52% of the company's stock.

Evergy Price Performance

Shares of Evergy stock opened at $86.56 on Friday. Evergy Inc. has a twelve month low of $67.64 and a twelve month high of $88.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $84.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $81.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.54.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.06. Evergy had a net margin of 14.63% and a return on equity of 9.09%. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.27 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.54 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Evergy Inc. will post 4.25 EPS for the current year.

Evergy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.695 per share. This represents a $2.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 22nd. Evergy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 73.74%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EVRG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Evergy from $89.00 to $88.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Evergy from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Evergy from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. BTIG Research assumed coverage on Evergy in a report on Thursday, April 9th. They set a "buy" rating and a $99.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $87.00 price objective on Evergy in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given 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 $90.10.

Evergy Company Profile

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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