Analysts Set Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG) PT at $61.88

Shares of Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nine research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $61.88.

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays cut their target price on Evergy from $67.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Evergy from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of Evergy in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $67.00 target price for the company. UBS Group raised shares of Evergy to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Evergy in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Kevin E. Bryant sold 48,141 shares of Evergy stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.93, for a total transaction of $3,029,513.13. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1 shares in the company, valued at $62.93. The trade was a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Evergy

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EVRG. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Evergy by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,532,719 shares of the company’s stock valued at $330,469,000 after acquiring an additional 288,619 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in Evergy by 38.6% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,683,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $195,089,000 after purchasing an additional 1,026,374 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its position in Evergy by 18.8% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 3,490,674 shares of the company’s stock worth $184,901,000 after buying an additional 552,455 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Evergy by 25.8% in the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,848,735 shares of the company’s stock valued at $176,650,000 after buying an additional 583,923 shares during the period. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its stake in shares of Evergy by 6,854.6% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 2,539,001 shares of the company’s stock valued at $157,443,000 after buying an additional 2,502,493 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.24% of the company’s stock.

Evergy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EVRG opened at $61.70 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.64. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $62.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $59.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. Evergy has a 1-year low of $48.04 and a 1-year high of $65.47.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.07. Evergy had a return on equity of 8.77% and a net margin of 14.77%. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.35 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.88 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Evergy will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Evergy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were paid a $0.6675 dividend. This represents a $2.67 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.33%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 21st. This is an increase from Evergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. Evergy’s payout ratio is presently 72.16%.

About Evergy

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.