Evergy (NYSE:EVRG) Now Covered by Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Evergy (NYSE:EVRG) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $70.00 price target on the stock.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on EVRG. UBS Group upgraded Evergy to a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays increased their price target on Evergy from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Three equities 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, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $60.00.

Evergy Stock Up 0.9 %

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. Evergy has a 52 week low of $46.92 and a 52 week high of $62.24. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $58.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $54.92. The firm has a market cap of $14.18 billion, a PE ratio of 19.95, a P/E/G ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.62.

Evergy (NYSE:EVRG) last posted its earnings results on Friday, August 9th. The company reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.32 billion. Evergy had a net margin of 13.12% and a return on equity of 8.50%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.81 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Evergy will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Evergy Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Evergy news, SVP Charles A. Caisley sold 9,236 shares of Evergy stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Ann D. Murtlow sold 3,301 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now owns 2,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $167,545.95. The transaction was disclosed in a filing 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 on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.63, for a total value of $550,742.68. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 33,425 shares in the company, valued at $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 Investors Weigh In On Evergy

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Evergy during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Evergy in the first quarter worth approximately $32,000. Toth Financial Advisory Corp lifted its stake in Evergy by 199.5% in the first quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp now owns 635 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 423 shares during the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new position in Evergy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Evergy in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $41,000. 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.