Dividend Achievers List: Top 15

8. Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG)

Dividend Yield as of September 22: 4.18%

Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG) is a Missouri-based electric services company that provides electricity generation, transmission, and distribution services to residential, commercial, industrial, and wholesale customers. The economic development pipeline in both Kansas and Missouri remained strong during the recent quarter. The company’s emphasis on affordability and regional rate competitiveness plays a key role in supporting this large pipeline, laying a foundation for growth in both states. Moreover, it is eager to collaborate with potential new customers considering the region, building on past successes with projects like the Panasonic electric vehicle battery plant and the Meta and Google data centers. The stock has surged by nearly 16% since the start of 2024.

Artisan Partners also highlighted Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG)’s performance in its Q1 2024 investor letter. Here is what the firm has to say:

“In Q1, we added two utilities to the portfolio: Alliant Energy and Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG). Evergy serves more than 1.7 million customers in Kansas and Missouri. In addition to the aforementioned dynamics weighing on utilities share prices, Evergy had two key rate cases in 2023, one in Kansas and the other in Missouri, that presented risk for investors. The Missouri case went better than expected, but the returns allowed by the Kansas regulator were punishingly low. Though Evergy operates in a subpar regulatory environment, the utility is a good operator, with strong customer satisfaction scores, below-average capex needs and a clean balance sheet. The regulatory environment may improve at some point, but even if it does not, Evergy trades for just 13X 2024 earnings, which is below average relative to its history and peers— and pays a dividend yielding 4.7%.”

In the second quarter of 2024, Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG) reported revenue of $1.45 billion, which showed a 7% growth from the same period last year. The company’s cash position was also strong, ending the quarter with over $26 million in cash and cash equivalents. It generated $635 million in operating cash flow in the first six months of the year. During this period, the company returned $296 million to shareholders through dividends.

Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG)’s cash position has allowed the company to maintain a consistent dividend history. On August 9, the company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.6425 per share, which fell in line with its previous dividend. Its dividend growth streak spans over 19 years, which makes it one of the best stocks on our dividend achievers list. The stock offers a dividend yield of 4.18%, as of September 22.

At the end of June 2024, 36 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held stakes in Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG), up from 35 in the previous quarter. These stakes have a consolidated value of $1.23 billion.