Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) Upgraded to Buy at Guggenheim

Guggenheim upgraded shares of Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Thursday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Evergy from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Evergy from $67.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 21st. Mizuho started coverage on shares of Evergy in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $67.00 target price on the stock. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of Evergy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $59.00 to $68.50 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $65.79.

Evergy Trading Up 0.7 %

EVRG opened at $63.52 on Thursday. Evergy has a 12-month low of $48.04 and a 12-month high of $65.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.61 billion, a PE ratio of 17.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.64. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $62.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $60.58.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.35 billion. Evergy had a net margin of 14.77% and a return on equity of 8.77%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.88 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Evergy will post 3.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Evergy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were issued a dividend of $0.6675 per share. This is an increase from Evergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $2.67 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.20%. Evergy’s payout ratio is 72.16%.

Insider Transactions at Evergy

In other Evergy news, EVP Kevin E. Bryant sold 48,141 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $62.93. The trade was a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Evergy

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its holdings in Evergy by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 7,778 shares of the company’s stock worth $482,000 after buying an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Evergy by 47.1% during the 3rd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 531 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC grew its stake in shares of Evergy by 2.3% in the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 7,751 shares of the company’s stock worth $481,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Evergy by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 7,322 shares of the company’s stock valued at $451,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares during the period. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its holdings in shares of Evergy by 1.2% during the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 18,563 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,138,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.24% of the company’s stock.

Evergy Company Profile

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.