NFJ Investment Group LLC Decreases Holdings in Evergy Inc. $EVRG

Key Points

• NFJ Investment Group LLC reduced its stake in Evergy Inc. by 18.5%, selling 20,878 shares during the first quarter and leaving the group with 91,986 shares valued at approximately $6.34 million.
• Several institutional investors modified their holdings, with Nuveen LLC acquiring a new stake worth around $212 million, while other firms like AQR Capital Management increased their stakes significantly in the same period.
• Evergy recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.6675, which translates to an annualized yield of 3.7%, with a payout ratio of 73.35%.

NFJ Investment Group LLC lessened its holdings in Evergy Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG - Free Report) by 18.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 91,986 shares of the company's stock after selling 20,878 shares during the quarter. NFJ Investment Group LLC's holdings in Evergy were worth $6,342,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Evergy during the first quarter worth about $212,132,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Evergy by 16.7% during 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 in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Evergy by 0.6% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,174,047 shares of the company's stock worth $149,901,000 after acquiring an additional 13,555 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in Evergy by 11.2% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,730,849 shares of the company's stock worth $119,342,000 after acquiring an additional 174,269 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Evergy by 27.7% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,482,508 shares of the company's stock worth $101,715,000 after acquiring an additional 321,406 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.24% of the company's stock.

Evergy Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of Evergy stock traded up $0.31 on Thursday, reaching $71.92. 529,869 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,309,736. The company has a market capitalization of $16.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.58. Evergy Inc. has a 52 week low of $59.00 and a 52 week high of $73.97. The firm's 50-day moving average is $70.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $68.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.50.

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

Evergy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 19th. Investors of record on Friday, August 22nd will be issued a $0.6675 dividend. This represents a $2.67 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 22nd. Evergy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 73.35%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Citigroup boosted their target price on Evergy from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $78.00 target price on Evergy and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Mizuho boosted their target price on Evergy from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Evergy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on Evergy from $73.00 to $71.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and eight have issued a Buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently 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.