Analysts Set Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG) Price Target at $64.06

Shares of Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG) have been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the nine analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $65.79.

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Guggenheim upgraded shares of Evergy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of 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 raised their price target on Evergy from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Mizuho initiated coverage on Evergy in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $67.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded Evergy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $59.00 to $68.50 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd.

Evergy Trading Up 0.7 %

NASDAQ:EVRG opened at $63.52 on Monday. Evergy has a 12 month low of $48.04 and a 12 month high of $65.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $62.45 and its 200 day moving average is $60.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.61 billion, a PE ratio of 17.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.64.

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

Evergy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were paid a $0.6675 dividend. This is a positive change from Evergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. This represents a $2.67 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 21st. Evergy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 72.16%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Kevin E. Bryant sold 48,141 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.93, for a total value of $3,029,513.13. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $62.93. This represents a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Evergy by 13.2% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 307,797 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,304,000 after purchasing an additional 35,940 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Evergy by 7.2% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,236,343 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,491,000 after buying an additional 83,035 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its stake in Evergy by 7.6% in the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 47,243 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,500,000 after buying an additional 3,324 shares in the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank grew its position in Evergy by 24.2% during the second quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 72,888 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,861,000 after acquiring an additional 14,223 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Evergy by 28.2% during the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 34,051 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,792,000 after acquiring an additional 7,484 shares in the last quarter. 87.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.