Evergy Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Evergy Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $90.60.

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

Insider Transactions at Evergy

In other Evergy news, EVP Charles Caisley sold 10,787 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.46, for a total value of $900,283.02. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 37,789 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,153,869.94. This trade represents a 22.21% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. 1.52% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Evergy

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

Evergy Stock Performance

NASDAQ EVRG opened at $81.62 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.72, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.53. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $83.63 and a 200 day moving average of $83.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. Evergy has a twelve month low of $71.20 and a twelve month high of $88.62.

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

Evergy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.695 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 18th. This represents a $2.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. Evergy’s dividend payout ratio is 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.