Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) Sets New 1-Year High - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Evergy hit a new 52-week high on Thursday, trading as high as $87.64 and ending up about 1.7% on the day. The move came on solid volume of 567,041 shares.
• Recent analyst commentary has been broadly positive, including higher price targets from Barclays and UBS. The stock now carries a Moderate Buy consensus rating with an average target price of $90.10.
• Evergy also reported better-than-expected quarterly results, posting $0.69 EPS versus estimates of $0.63 and revenue of $1.44 billion versus $1.27 billion expected. The company also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.695 per share, equal to a 3.2% annualized yield.

Evergy Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $87.64 and last traded at $87.6330, with a volume of 567041 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $86.19.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on EVRG shares. Barclays increased their price objective on Evergy from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday. BTIG Research assumed coverage on shares of Evergy in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. They set a "buy" rating and a $99.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company set a $87.00 price objective on shares of Evergy in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Evergy from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Evergy from $89.00 to $88.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Evergy presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $90.10.

Evergy Trading Up 1.7%

The business has a 50 day moving average of $82.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $80.14. The firm has a market cap of $20.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.24, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.06. Evergy had a net margin of 14.63% and a return on equity of 9.09%. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.27 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.54 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Evergy Inc. will post 4.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Evergy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 22nd were issued a $0.695 dividend. This represents a $2.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 22nd. Evergy's dividend payout ratio is currently 73.74%.

Insider Activity at Evergy

In related news, Director Sandra Aj Lawrence sold 600 shares of Evergy stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.41, for a total transaction of $48,846.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 680 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $55,358.80. This trade represents a 46.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Charles A. Caisley sold 10,787 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.46, for a total value of $900,283.02. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 37,789 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,153,869.94. This trade represents a 22.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold 12,748 shares of company stock valued at $1,061,870 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.52% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Evergy

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Kestra Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Evergy by 0.8% in the first quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 15,829 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,297,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Planning Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Evergy by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Retirement Planning Group LLC now owns 23,659 shares of the company's stock worth $1,938,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares during the period. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Evergy by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,946 shares of the company's stock worth $241,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of Evergy by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 24,981 shares of the company's stock worth $1,826,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Optiver Holding B.V. boosted its position in shares of Evergy by 14.5% during the 1st quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 1,107 shares of the company's stock worth $91,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.24% of the company's stock.

About Evergy

Evergy, Inc is a regulated electric utility that generates, transmits and distributes electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers primarily across Kansas and western Missouri. The company provides core utility services including retail electric delivery, grid operations, customer service and outage restoration, operating under state regulatory frameworks. Evergy serves a mix of urban and rural communities, including portions of the Kansas City metropolitan area and other population centers in its service territory.

The company's business activities span power generation, system planning, transmission and distribution infrastructure, and customer-facing programs such as energy efficiency and demand-side management.

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