Evergy (NYSE:EVRG) Research Coverage Started at Citigroup

Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Evergy (NYSE:EVRG) in a research note published on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $64.00 target price on the stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Guggenheim downgraded Evergy from a buy rating to a neutral rating and set a $52.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Bank of America raised Evergy from a neutral rating to a buy rating and increased their price target for the stock from $51.00 to $57.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Evergy from $60.00 to $57.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Evergy from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $57.00.

Evergy Stock Performance

Shares of EVRG opened at $53.38 on Tuesday. Evergy has a 12 month low of $46.92 and a 12 month high of $63.93. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $50.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $50.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The firm has a market cap of $12.26 billion, a PE ratio of 16.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.56.

Evergy (NYSE:EVRG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.30 by ($0.03). Evergy had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 8.47%. The business had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.46 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.30 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Evergy will post 3.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Evergy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 11th were paid a dividend of $0.6425 per share. This represents a $2.57 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.81%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 8th. Evergy’s payout ratio is currently 80.82%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Evergy

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in Evergy by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 14,198 shares of the company’s stock valued at $969,000 after buying an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. Verity Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Evergy by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. Verity Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,206 shares of the company’s stock valued at $246,000 after buying an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. lifted its stake in Evergy by 30.5% in the 4th quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 855 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd lifted its stake in Evergy by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 73,111 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,816,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Evergy by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,531 shares of the company’s stock worth $280,000 after purchasing an additional 211 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.