Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) Stock Rated "Buy" in New Coverage at HSBC

Key Points

• HSBC initiated coverage of Evergy with a “Buy” rating and a $92 price target, implying 10.64% upside from the prior close.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly positive: nine analysts rate Evergy a Buy and three a Hold, producing a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average target price of $89.42.
• Evergy recently exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.88 in earnings per share versus an $0.81 consensus estimate and revenue of $1.50 billion versus $1.36 billion expected.

Equities research analysts at HSBC initiated coverage on shares of Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG - Get Free Report) in a report issued on Thursday, Briefing.com reports. The brokerage set a "buy" rating and a $92.00 price target on the stock. HSBC's price target would indicate a potential upside of 10.64% from the stock's previous close.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Barclays lowered their target price on Evergy from $92.00 to $86.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Evergy in a research note on Friday, October 9th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Evergy from $95.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. BTIG Research set a $94.00 price target on Evergy in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, DA Davidson set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Evergy in a report on Tuesday, October 13th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $89.42.

Evergy Stock Performance

Shares of Evergy stock opened at $83.15 on Thursday. Evergy has a one year low of $71.40 and a one year high of $88.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a current ratio of 0.36. The business's 50 day moving average price is $81.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $82.71. The company has a market cap of $19.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.10, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.50.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.88 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 analysts' expectations of $1.36 billion. Evergy had a return on equity of 9.20% and a net margin of 15.19%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.82 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Evergy will post 4.26 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Evergy

In other Evergy news, Director Jonathan Rolph acquired 1,640 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 11th. The shares were bought at an average price of $81.47 per share, with a total value of $133,610.80. Following the acquisition, the director owned 670 shares of the company's stock, valued at $54,584.90. This trade represents a -169.07% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 1.52% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. MidFirst Bank purchased a new stake in Evergy during the second quarter worth $30,000. Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new stake in Evergy during the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Burk Holdings LLC purchased a new position in Evergy during the second quarter worth $31,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its stake in shares of Evergy by 139.6% during the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 405 shares of the company's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearstead Trust LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Evergy during the second quarter valued at $33,000. 87.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Evergy Company Profile

Evergy, Inc is an investor-owned electric utility that generates, transmits, distributes and sells electricity to residential, commercial, industrial and municipal customers. The company operates regulated utilities in Kansas and Missouri, providing electric service through its Kansas Central, Kansas South, Missouri Metro and Missouri West operations.

Evergy's generation portfolio includes wind, solar, coal, natural gas and nuclear power. The company also owns an interest in the Wolf Creek Generating Station, a nuclear power plant in Kansas, and continues to invest in renewable energy, grid modernization and other infrastructure intended to support reliable electricity service.

Evergy was formed in 2018 through the merger of Westar Energy and Great Plains Energy, the parent company of Kansas City Power & Light.

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