Evergy Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG) Given Average Rating of "Buy" by Brokerages

Shares of Evergy Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus recommendation of "Buy" by the nine research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $73.19.

EVRG has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of Evergy to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Evergy from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the company from $68.00 to $78.00 in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $78.00 price target on shares of Evergy and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Evergy in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $75.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Evergy from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th.

Evergy Stock Performance

EVRG traded up $0.40 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $67.19. 2,768,991 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,033,823. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $67.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $65.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. Evergy has a 1-year low of $52.10 and a 1-year high of $70.36.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.66 by ($0.12). The company had revenue of $1.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.21 billion. Evergy had a return on equity of 8.84% and a net margin of 14.87%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.54 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Evergy will post 3.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Evergy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd were given a $0.6675 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.67 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.97%. Evergy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 70.26%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Evergy

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of EVRG. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC boosted its stake in shares of Evergy by 11.5% in the fourth quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC now owns 16,492 shares of the company's stock worth $1,015,000 after acquiring an additional 1,700 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in Evergy during the 4th quarter worth $257,000. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in Evergy by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 3,890 shares of the company's stock worth $239,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in Evergy by 102.1% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 60,494 shares of the company's stock worth $3,729,000 after purchasing an additional 30,563 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in Evergy by 84.6% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 7,975 shares of the company's stock worth $501,000 after purchasing an additional 3,654 shares during the last quarter. 87.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Evergy Company Profile

Evergy, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, transmission, distribution, and sale of electricity in the United States. The company generates electricity through coal, landfill gas, uranium, and natural gas and oil sources, as well as solar, wind, other renewable sources. It serves residences, commercial firms, industrials, municipalities, and other electric utilities.