Evergy Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts rate Evergy a “Moderate Buy”: Eight of 11 analysts recommend buying the stock, while three rate it a hold. The average 12-month price target is $90.60, above the reported $81.62 share price.
• Evergy exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.88 EPS versus the $0.81 consensus estimate and revenue of $1.50 billion versus $1.36 billion expected.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.695 per share, equivalent to $2.78 annually and a 3.4% yield. Institutional investors own 87.24% of Evergy, while an executive sold shares to cover tax withholding on vested equity awards.

Shares of Evergy Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG - Get Free Report) have received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the eleven ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $90.60.

EVRG has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Evergy from $95.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Evergy from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Evergy from $88.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Evergy in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, BTIG Research set a $97.00 price objective on Evergy in a report on Thursday, July 23rd.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Evergy news, EVP Charles Caisley sold 10,787 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.46, for a total value of $900,283.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 37,789 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,153,869.94. The trade was a 22.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Corporate insiders own 1.52% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Evergy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. MidFirst Bank acquired a new position in shares of Evergy in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new stake in Evergy during the second quarter valued at $30,000. Burk Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in Evergy during the second quarter valued at $31,000. Prosperity Bancshares Inc purchased a new position in Evergy in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Clearstead Trust LLC acquired a new position in shares of Evergy in the second quarter worth about $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.24% of the company's stock.

Evergy Stock Performance

Shares of EVRG opened at $81.62 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $83.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $83.05. Evergy has a one year low of $71.20 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 stock has a market cap of $18.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.53.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.07. Evergy had a return on equity of 9.20% and a net margin of 15.19%.The firm had revenue of $1.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.36 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.82 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Evergy will post 4.25 EPS for the current year.

Evergy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 18th will be given a dividend of $0.695 per share. This represents a $2.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 18th. Evergy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 70.56%.

About Evergy

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.

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