Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Lowers Stake in Evergy Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG)

Key Points

• Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board has reduced its stake in Evergy Inc. by 16.8%, selling 7,107 shares and holding 35,321 shares valued at approximately $2.43 million.
• Recent analyst ratings for Evergy reveal a mixed outlook, with an average price target of $74.06 and eight buy ratings, despite one analyst rating it as a sell.
• Evergy announced a quarterly dividend of $0.6675, representing a 3.7% annual yield, with the payout ratio currently at 70.26%.

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board decreased its holdings in Evergy Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG - Free Report) by 16.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 35,321 shares of the company's stock after selling 7,107 shares during the quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board's holdings in Evergy were worth $2,435,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bfsg LLC bought a new stake in Evergy during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Colonial Trust Co SC bought a new stake in Evergy during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new stake in Evergy during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Olde Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Evergy during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in Evergy during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.24% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EVRG has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group upgraded shares of Evergy from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $68.00 to $78.00 in a report on Monday, April 28th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Evergy from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Wall Street Zen lowered Evergy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Evergy from $73.00 to $71.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Evergy in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $75.00 price objective for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Evergy currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $74.44.

Evergy Trading Down 0.4%

Evergy stock traded down $0.26 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $72.16. The stock had a trading volume of 458,655 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,357,293. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. Evergy Inc. has a 52-week low of $57.82 and a 52-week high of $73.97. The firm has a market cap of $16.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a fifty day moving average of $68.93 and a 200 day moving average of $67.58.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.04. Evergy had a net margin of 14.29% and a return on equity of 8.62%. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.45 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.90 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Evergy Inc. will post 3.83 earnings per share 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 paid a dividend of $0.6675 per share. This represents a $2.67 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 22nd. Evergy's payout ratio is currently 73.35%.

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.