Evergy Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG) Stock Now Rated "Moderate Buy" by Wall Street 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 share price of $80.35.
• Evergy exceeded quarterly expectations: The utility reported $0.88 in quarterly EPS versus the $0.81 consensus estimate and revenue of $1.50 billion, ahead of the $1.36 billion forecast.
• The stock offers a 3.5% dividend yield: Evergy pays a quarterly dividend of $0.695 per share, or $2.78 annualized, with a payout ratio of 70.56%. Institutional investors own 87.24% of the company.

Shares of Evergy Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG - Get Free Report) have been given an average rating of "Moderate Buy" by the eleven analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $90.60.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Evergy

In other Evergy news, Director Jonathan Rolph acquired 1,640 shares of the firm'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 acquisition, the director directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Evergy

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. MidFirst Bank purchased a new stake in Evergy in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new position in shares of Evergy during the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Burk Holdings LLC purchased a new position in shares of Evergy during the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. Clearstead Trust LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Evergy in the second quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Fiduciary Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Evergy in the second quarter worth approximately $34,000. 87.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Evergy Stock Performance

Evergy stock opened at $80.35 on Wednesday. Evergy has a fifty-two week low of $71.40 and a fifty-two week high of $88.62. The company has a market capitalization of $18.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.39, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.50. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $81.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $82.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a current ratio of 0.36.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $1.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 business earned $0.82 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Evergy will post 4.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Evergy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 18th were paid a dividend of $0.6950 per share. This represents a $2.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend 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 holding company that provides electricity generation, transmission, distribution and related services. Through its operating utilities, the company serves residential, commercial, industrial and municipal customers in Kansas and Missouri.

Evergy's generation portfolio includes nuclear, natural gas, coal, wind and solar resources. The company also operates and maintains electric transmission and distribution infrastructure and has invested in renewable energy and grid modernization initiatives to support reliability and the transition to lower-emission energy sources.

Evergy was formed in 2018 through the merger of Great Plains Energy Incorporated and Westar Energy, Inc Its principal operating utilities include Evergy Kansas Central, Evergy Kansas South, Evergy Missouri Metro and Evergy Missouri West.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.