Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) Hits New 1-Year High - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Evergy Inc. shares reached a new 52-week high of $78.77, with recent trading showing a slight increase after closing at $78.09 the previous day.
• Analysts have set new price targets for Evergy, with Jefferies raising the target from $77.00 to $87.00 and maintaining a "buy" rating.
• Evergy announced a quarterly dividend of $0.6675 per share, representing a 3.4% yield, demonstrating a solid commitment to returning value to shareholders despite recent revenue declines.

Evergy Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG - Get Free Report)'s share price reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $78.77 and last traded at $78.76, with a volume of 46001 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $78.09.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EVRG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Evergy from $77.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Evergy in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Mizuho upped their price target on Evergy from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Barclays restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Evergy in a report on Thursday, October 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and nine have given a Buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Evergy has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $76.94.

Evergy Stock Up 0.7%

The firm has a market capitalization of $18.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.63, a P/E/G ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 0.57. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $73.30 and a 200 day moving average of $69.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.04. Evergy had a return on equity of 8.62% and a net margin of 14.29%.The company had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.45 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.90 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. Evergy has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.920-4.120 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Evergy Inc. will post 3.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Evergy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.6675 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 22nd. This represents a $2.67 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Evergy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 73.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Evergy

In related news, SVP Lesley Lissette Elwell sold 8,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.33, for a total value of $578,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 499 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $36,092.67. This represents a 94.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 1.42% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Evergy

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Evergy during the first quarter valued at about $212,132,000. Magellan Asset Management Ltd grew its stake in Evergy by 1,418.7% in the 2nd quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd now owns 2,364,493 shares of the company's stock worth $162,985,000 after buying an additional 2,208,799 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Evergy by 969.3% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,329,424 shares of the company's stock worth $101,063,000 after acquiring an additional 1,205,101 shares during the last quarter. Maple Brown Abbott Ltd bought a new position in Evergy in the 1st quarter worth $63,444,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp raised its holdings in Evergy by 44.4% in the 2nd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 2,470,917 shares of the company's stock worth $170,320,000 after purchasing an additional 760,301 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.24% of the company's stock.

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.

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