Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to Hold Rating

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Sunday.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on EVRG. Royal Bank Of Canada raised shares of Evergy to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Evergy from $79.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Evergy to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Evergy from $77.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Evergy in a report on Thursday, October 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $80.72.

Evergy Price Performance

Shares of Evergy stock opened at $73.80 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $76.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $72.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.65. Evergy has a one year low of $59.67 and a one year high of $79.32.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.14 by ($0.11). Evergy had a net margin of 14.45% and a return on equity of 8.66%. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.02 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Evergy will post 3.83 EPS for the current year.

Evergy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 19th. Investors of record on Friday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.695 per share. This is a boost from Evergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 21st. Evergy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 76.16%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Evergy

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Evergy by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,966,777 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,134,540,000 after buying an additional 521,310 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Evergy by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,257,857 shares of the company’s stock valued at $429,677,000 after acquiring an additional 170,953 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Evergy by 4.3% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,058,061 shares of the company’s stock worth $460,534,000 after acquiring an additional 251,027 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its holdings in Evergy by 0.5% in the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 3,702,734 shares of the company’s stock worth $281,482,000 after purchasing an additional 17,592 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Evergy by 10.6% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,760,494 shares of the company’s stock valued at $209,853,000 after purchasing an additional 263,619 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.