Evergy (NYSE:EVRG) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Evergy (NYSE:EVRG) in a research note published on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $70.00 price target on the stock.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on EVRG. Barclays increased their price objective on Evergy from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. UBS Group raised shares of Evergy to a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Evergy has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $60.00.

Evergy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:EVRG opened at $61.65 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23. The stock has a market cap of $14.18 billion, a PE ratio of 19.95, a PEG ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.62. The company’s fifty day moving average is $58.63 and its 200 day moving average is $54.95. Evergy has a 52 week low of $46.92 and a 52 week high of $62.24.

Evergy (NYSE:EVRG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 9th. The company reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.45 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.32 billion. Evergy had a return on equity of 8.50% and a net margin of 13.12%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.81 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Evergy will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Evergy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 20th were issued a $0.6425 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 20th. This represents a $2.57 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.17%. Evergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 83.17%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Ann D. Murtlow sold 3,301 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.85, for a total transaction of $194,263.85. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,847 shares in the company, valued at $167,545.95. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Evergy news, Director Ann D. Murtlow sold 3,301 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.85, for a total transaction of $194,263.85. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $167,545.95. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Charles A. Caisley sold 9,236 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.63, for a total value of $550,742.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 33,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,993,132.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 15,884 shares of company stock valued at $941,810. Corporate insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Evergy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in Evergy by 1,038.7% during the 4th quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 3,612,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $188,557,000 after acquiring an additional 3,294,967 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Evergy during the second quarter valued at approximately $112,464,000. Zimmer Partners LP boosted its position in shares of Evergy by 781.4% in the 1st quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 2,326,385 shares of the company’s stock worth $124,182,000 after purchasing an additional 2,062,434 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Evergy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $89,832,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Evergy by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,757,415 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,605,537,000 after buying an additional 1,399,199 shares in the last quarter. 87.24% of the stock is 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.