Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Buys 7,093 Shares of Evergy, Inc. (NYSE:EVRG)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its stake in Evergy, Inc. (NYSE:EVRG) by 3.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 214,411 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,093 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Evergy were worth $11,192,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. CVA Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in Evergy during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in Evergy during the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. MV Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Evergy by 3,263.6% during the 4th quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 740 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 718 shares during the last quarter. Headinvest LLC purchased a new position in shares of Evergy in the third quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC purchased a new position in shares of Evergy in the third quarter worth approximately $45,000. 87.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Evergy Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE EVRG traded up $0.19 on Tuesday, hitting $52.45. 580,834 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,546,695. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.51. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $51.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $50.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.57. Evergy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $46.92 and a 52-week high of $63.84.

Evergy (NYSE:EVRG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.46 billion. Evergy had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 8.47%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.30 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Evergy, Inc. will post 3.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Evergy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, March 11th were issued a $0.6425 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 8th. This represents a $2.57 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.90%. Evergy’s payout ratio is currently 80.82%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on EVRG. Bank of America upgraded shares of Evergy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $51.00 to $57.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Evergy in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. They set a “buy” rating and a $64.00 price objective on the stock. Guggenheim cut shares of Evergy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $52.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH assumed coverage on shares of Evergy in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $51.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Evergy from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Evergy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $56.00.

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.