Evergy Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Evergy Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $90.60.

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on EVRG shares. BTIG Research set a $97.00 price objective on shares of Evergy in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Evergy from $88.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Evergy in a report on Friday, August 7th. Barclays upped their price target on Evergy from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Evergy from $95.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Evergy news, Director Jonathan Rolph purchased 1,640 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 11th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $81.47 per share, for a total transaction of $133,610.80. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 670 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $54,584.90. The trade was a -169.07% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Evergy

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Kestra Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Evergy by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 15,829 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,297,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Trilogy Capital Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Evergy by 0.3% during the second quarter. Trilogy Capital Inc. now owns 47,210 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,080,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Planning Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Evergy by 0.6% during the first quarter. Retirement Planning Group LLC now owns 23,659 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,938,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Evergy by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,946 shares of the company’s stock valued at $241,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares during the period. Finally, Optiver Holding B.V. raised its stake in Evergy by 14.5% in the 1st quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 1,107 shares of the company’s stock worth $91,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. 87.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Evergy Trading Down 1.3%

NASDAQ:EVRG opened at $79.75 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $83.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $82.97. Evergy has a one year low of $71.33 and a one year high of $88.62. The firm has a market cap of $18.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a current ratio of 0.36.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $1.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.36 billion. Evergy had a net margin of 15.19% and a return on equity of 9.20%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.82 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Evergy will post 4.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Evergy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 18th were given a dividend of $0.695 per share. This represents a $2.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 18th. Evergy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 70.56%.

Evergy Company Profile

Evergy, Inc is an investor-owned electric utility that generates, transmits, distributes and sells electricity to residential, commercial, industrial and other customers. The company operates regulated utilities and provides electric service through its Kansas and Missouri subsidiaries.

Evergy serves customers across much of Kansas and in western Missouri, including the Kansas City metropolitan area. Its generation portfolio includes a mix of renewable and conventional resources, such as wind, solar, natural gas and coal, as well as an ownership interest in the Wolf Creek nuclear generating station in Kansas.

The company was formed in 2018 through the merger of Great Plains Energy Incorporated and Westar Energy, Inc Evergy is headquartered in Topeka, Kansas, with significant operations in the Kansas City region.