Evergy, Inc. (NYSE:EVRG) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Evergy, Inc. (NYSE:EVRG) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $56.00.

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays lifted their price objective on Evergy from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH assumed coverage on Evergy in a report on Thursday, April 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $51.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup initiated coverage on Evergy in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. They set a “buy” rating and a $64.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Evergy from $60.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Finally, Guggenheim lowered Evergy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $52.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, January 22nd.

Evergy Stock Performance

Evergy stock opened at $52.48 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.29. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $51.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $50.97. Evergy has a 52-week low of $46.92 and a 52-week high of $63.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.57.

Evergy (NYSE:EVRG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by ($0.03). Evergy had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 8.47%. The business had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.46 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.30 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Evergy will post 3.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Evergy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, March 11th were given a dividend of $0.6425 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. This represents a $2.57 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.90%. Evergy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 80.82%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Evergy

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of EVRG. CVA Family Office LLC purchased a new position in Evergy in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Toth Financial Advisory Corp increased its stake in Evergy by 199.5% in the 1st quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp now owns 635 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 423 shares during the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Evergy by 222.2% in the 4th quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 667 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 460 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Evergy in the 3rd quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, MV Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Evergy by 3,263.6% in the 4th quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 740 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 718 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.