Evergy, Inc. (NYSE:EVRG) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.67

Evergy, Inc. (NYSE:EVRG) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, November 5th,Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of 0.6675 per share on Friday, December 20th. This represents a $2.67 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This is a positive change from Evergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.64.

Evergy has increased its dividend by an average of 6.6% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 20 consecutive years. Evergy has a dividend payout ratio of 66.1% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Evergy to earn $4.04 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.67 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 66.1%.

Evergy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:EVRG opened at $63.98 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $14.71 billion, a PE ratio of 17.29, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.62. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $61.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $57.70. Evergy has a 1-year low of $48.04 and a 1-year high of $64.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.32.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Evergy

In related news, EVP Kevin E. Bryant sold 48,141 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1 shares in the company, valued at approximately $62.93. The trade was a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Heather A. Humphrey sold 3,347 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.80, for a total transaction of $196,803.60. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 35,314 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,076,463.20. The trade was a 8.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 60,724 shares of company stock valued at $3,777,059. Insiders own 3.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on EVRG. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Evergy from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. UBS Group raised Evergy to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Barclays dropped their price target 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. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Evergy in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $70.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Mizuho began coverage on shares of Evergy in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $67.00 target price for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $61.88.

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.