Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) Reaches New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG) hit a new 52-week high on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $70.30 and last traded at $69.39, with a volume of 743547 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $69.43.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EVRG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded Evergy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Evergy from $62.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Guggenheim raised shares of Evergy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Evergy from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $69.08.

Evergy Stock Down 4.4 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $66.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $63.57. The firm has a market cap of $15.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.52.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.46 by ($0.11). Evergy had a net margin of 14.77% and a return on equity of 8.77%. The business had revenue of $1.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.24 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that Evergy, Inc. will post 3.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Evergy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $0.6675 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $2.67 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.03%. Evergy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 70.45%.

Institutional Trading of Evergy

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY lifted its holdings in Evergy by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 11,741 shares of the company’s stock valued at $723,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC grew its position in Evergy by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 3,692 shares of the company’s stock worth $227,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Evergy by 2.2% during the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 7,778 shares of the company’s stock valued at $482,000 after buying an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. lifted its stake in Evergy by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 3,231 shares of the company’s stock worth $199,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC boosted 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 worth $451,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.