SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2019

Stockholders' Equity Note [Abstract]

Evergy's authorized capital stock consists of 600 million shares of common stock, without par value, and 12 million shares of Preference Stock, without par value.

Evergy Registration Statements

In November 2018, Evergy filed an automatic shelf registration statement providing for the sale of unlimited amounts of securities with the SEC, which expires in November 2021.

Evergy has registered shares of its common stock with the SEC for its Dividend Reinvestment and Direct Stock Purchase Plan. Shares issued under the plan may be either newly issued shares or shares purchased on the open market.

Evergy has registered shares of its common stock with the SEC for the Evergy, Inc. 401(k) Savings Plan. Shares issued under the plans may be either newly issued shares or shares purchased on the open market.

Common Stock Repurchase Program

In July 2018, the Evergy Board authorized the repurchase of up to 60 million shares of Evergy's common stock. Evergy has utilized various methods to effectuate the share repurchase program since its authorization, including the repurchase of shares through accelerated share repurchase (ASR) agreements and open market transactions. Evergy retires repurchased common stock shares in the period the shares are repurchased. For 2019, Evergy had total repurchases of common stock of $1,628.7 million and had repurchased 28.8 million shares under the repurchase program. Since the start of the repurchase program in August 2018, Evergy has made total repurchases of common stock of $2,671.0 million and has repurchased 45.2 million shares under the repurchase program. Evergy does not anticipate making additional repurchases of common stock under its share repurchase program while the Strategic Review & Operations Committee of the Evergy Board conducts its review of ways to enhance long-term shareholder value, which is expected to conclude in the first half of 2020.

The following table summarizes the ASRs completed as part of Evergy's common stock repurchase program.



Date ASR Entered	Final Settlement Date	Amount		Shares Delivered
		(millions)
August 2018	October/November 2018	$	450.0	7.9
November 2018	February 2019	475.0		8.3
March 2019	June 2019	450.0		7.8
June 2019	September 2019	500.0		8.1
September 2019	November/December 2019	500.0		7.8

Under the ASR agreements entered into with various financial institutions, Evergy was delivered a number of shares of its common stock based on the amount of the ASR agreement and the average daily volume-weighted average price of its common stock during the term of the ASR agreement, less a negotiated discount. Evergy reflects ASRs as a repurchase of common stock in the period the shares are delivered for purposes of calculating earnings per share and as forward contracts indexed to its own common stock. Evergy's ASRs have met all of the applicable criteria for equity classification and therefore are not accounted for as derivative instruments.

Dividend Restrictions

Evergy depends on its subsidiaries to pay dividends on its common stock. The Evergy Companies have certain restrictions stemming from statutory requirements, corporate organizational documents, covenants and other conditions that could affect dividend levels or the ability to pay dividends.

The KCC order authorizing the merger transaction requires Evergy to maintain consolidated common equity of at least 35% of total consolidated capitalization.

Under the Federal Power Act, Evergy Kansas Central, Evergy Metro and Evergy Missouri West generally can pay dividends only out of retained earnings. Certain conditions in the MPSC and KCC orders authorizing the merger transaction also require Evergy Kansas Central and Evergy Metro to maintain consolidated common equity of at least 40% of total capitalization. Other conditions in the MPSC and KCC merger orders require Evergy Kansas Central, Evergy Metro and Evergy Missouri West to maintain credit ratings of at least investment grade. If Evergy Kansas Central's, Evergy Metro's or Evergy Missouri West's credit ratings are downgraded below the investment grade level as a result of their affiliation with Evergy or any of Evergy's affiliates, the impacted utility shall not pay a dividend to Evergy without KCC or MPSC approval or until the impacted utility's investment grade credit rating has been restored.

The master credit facility of Evergy, Evergy Kansas Central, Evergy Metro and Evergy Missouri West and the note purchase agreements for certain Evergy Missouri West senior notes contain covenants requiring the respective company to maintain a consolidated indebtedness to consolidated total capitalization ratio of not more than 0.65 to 1.00 at all times.

As of December 31, 2019, all of Evergy's and Evergy Kansas Central's retained earnings and net income were free of restrictions and Evergy Metro had a retained earnings restriction of $152.0 million. Evergy's subsidiaries had restricted net assets of approximately $5.0 billion as of December 31, 2019. These restrictions are not expected to affect the Evergy Companies' ability to pay dividends at the current level for the foreseeable future.