Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Raises Holdings in Evergy Inc. $EVRG

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System boosted its position in Evergy Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG) by 7.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,187 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 779 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Evergy were worth $771,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bfsg LLC acquired a new stake in Evergy during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Evergy during the first quarter worth $32,000. Olde Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Evergy during the first quarter worth $32,000. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in Evergy in the first quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Clearstead Trust LLC acquired a new position in Evergy in the first quarter valued at $32,000. 87.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Evergy

In other Evergy news, SVP Lesley Lissette Elwell sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.33, for a total transaction of $578,640.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 499 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,092.67. The trade was a 94.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.42% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Evergy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EVRG opened at $77.49 on Tuesday. Evergy Inc. has a 12 month low of $59.23 and a 12 month high of $78.56. The stock has a market cap of $17.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.29, a PEG ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 0.57. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $73.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $69.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 0.50 and a quick ratio of 0.27.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.04. The company 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 firm’s revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.90 earnings per share. Evergy has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.920-4.120 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Evergy Inc. will post 3.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Evergy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.6675 per share. This represents a $2.67 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 22nd. Evergy’s payout ratio is 73.35%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on EVRG shares. Barclays reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Evergy in a report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Evergy in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Evergy from $77.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on Evergy from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and nine have given a Buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $76.94.

Evergy Profile

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.