Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) Upgraded at LADENBURG THALM/SH SH

LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) to a strong-buy rating in a research report report published on Monday morning,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on EVRG. Barclays lifted their price objective on Evergy from $62.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Guggenheim raised Evergy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Evergy presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $68.42.

Evergy Stock Performance

Shares of EVRG stock opened at $67.76 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $65.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $62.96. Evergy has a 12 month low of $49.55 and a 12 month high of $69.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.31, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.62. 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 (NASDAQ:EVRG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $1.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.24 billion. Evergy had a net margin of 14.77% and a return on equity of 8.77%. Equities research analysts forecast that Evergy will post 3.83 EPS for the current year.

Evergy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.6675 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $2.67 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.94%. Evergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 70.45%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of EVRG. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP lifted its position in shares of Evergy by 164.8% during the 4th quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP now owns 2,312,953 shares of the company’s stock valued at $142,362,000 after buying an additional 1,439,450 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in Evergy by 131.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,004,414 shares of the company’s stock worth $124,294,000 after acquiring an additional 1,138,138 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in Evergy by 15,406.4% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 921,546 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,721,000 after acquiring an additional 915,603 shares during the last quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP bought a new position in Evergy in the 4th quarter worth about $55,652,000. Finally, Groupama Asset Managment increased its stake in Evergy by 3,216.6% in the 4th quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 880,768 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,211,000 after acquiring an additional 854,212 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.24% of the company’s stock.

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.