Evergy Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Evergy Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $82.75.

Several research firms have weighed in on EVRG. UBS Group lifted their target price on Evergy from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised shares of Evergy to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Mizuho reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $76.00 target price (down previously from $86.00) on shares of Evergy in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Evergy in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Evergy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, December 22nd.

Evergy Trading Down 0.2%

NASDAQ EVRG opened at $72.82 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $74.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $73.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.52. Evergy has a twelve month low of $59.67 and a twelve month high of $79.32. The stock has a market cap of $16.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.95, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.67.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.14 by ($0.11). The business had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. Evergy had a return on equity of 8.66% and a net margin of 14.45%.The business’s quarterly revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.02 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Evergy will post 3.83 EPS for the current year.

Evergy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 21st were given a $0.695 dividend. This represents a $2.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 21st. This is an increase from Evergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Evergy’s payout ratio is currently 76.16%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Evergy

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in EVRG. Magellan Asset Management Ltd increased its holdings in Evergy by 1,418.7% in the second 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 during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in Evergy by 346.2% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,046,787 shares of the company’s stock worth $155,597,000 after acquiring an additional 1,588,100 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Evergy by 969.3% in the third 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 in the last quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Evergy during the 3rd quarter worth $72,860,000. Finally, Truist Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of Evergy by 169.2% during the 3rd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 1,438,958 shares of the company’s stock valued at $109,390,000 after purchasing an additional 904,400 shares in the last quarter. 87.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Evergy Company Profile

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.