Vestcor Inc Raises Position in Evergy Inc. $EVRG

Key Points

• Vestcor Inc. increased its stake in Evergy by 49.6% in the fourth quarter, buying 57,795 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 174,330 shares worth about $12.6 million.
• Institutional ownership remains heavy, with hedge funds and other investors owning 87.24% of Evergy. Several large firms, including Geode Capital Management and Franklin Resources, also raised their positions.
• Evergy reported better-than-expected quarterly results, posting EPS of $0.69 versus the $0.63 estimate and revenue of $1.44 billion versus $1.27 billion expected. The utility also reaffirmed its outlook with FY 2026 EPS guidance of 4.14 to 4.34.

Vestcor Inc boosted its stake in Evergy Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG - Free Report) by 49.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 174,330 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 57,795 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc owned 0.08% of Evergy worth $12,637,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Evergy by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,447,150 shares of the company's stock worth $465,684,000 after buying an additional 105,842 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Evergy by 4.3% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,058,061 shares of the company's stock worth $460,534,000 after buying an additional 251,027 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Evergy by 10.6% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,760,494 shares of the company's stock worth $209,853,000 after buying an additional 263,619 shares during the period. Magellan Asset Management Ltd lifted its holdings in Evergy by 3.4% in the third quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd now owns 2,444,381 shares of the company's stock worth $185,822,000 after buying an additional 79,888 shares during the period. Finally, Truist Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Evergy by 28.4% in the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 1,847,410 shares of the company's stock worth $133,919,000 after buying an additional 408,452 shares during the period. 87.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on EVRG. BTIG Research began coverage on shares of Evergy in a report on Thursday, April 9th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $99.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Evergy from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Evergy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, February 21st. Mizuho set a $82.00 target price on shares of Evergy in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Evergy from $89.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Evergy has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $89.60.

Evergy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EVRG opened at $83.27 on Friday. Evergy Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $64.80 and a fifty-two week high of $85.27. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $82.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $78.98. The company has a market capitalization of $19.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a current ratio of 0.45.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.27 billion. Evergy had a net margin of 14.63% and a return on equity of 9.09%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.54 earnings per share. Evergy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.140-4.340 EPS. Analysts expect that Evergy Inc. will post 4.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Evergy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Investors of record on Friday, May 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.695 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 22nd. This represents a $2.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. Evergy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 73.74%.

Insider Activity at Evergy

In related news, SVP Charles L. King sold 2,440 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.19, for a total transaction of $200,543.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 18,359 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,508,926.21. This trade represents a 11.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Heather A. Humphrey sold 3,650 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.61, for a total transaction of $301,526.50. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 44,007 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,635,418.27. This trade represents a 7.66% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 8,051 shares of company stock valued at $663,657 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.52% of the company's stock.

About Evergy

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.