Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) Now Covered by BMO Capital Markets

BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) in a research report released on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued an outperform rating and a $75.00 target price on the stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on EVRG. UBS Group raised shares of Evergy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $68.00 to $78.00 in a report on Monday, April 28th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Evergy from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Guggenheim raised shares of Evergy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of Evergy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $71.50.

Evergy Price Performance

Shares of EVRG opened at $64.76 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.90 billion, a PE ratio of 17.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.32. Evergy has a 1-year low of $52.10 and a 1-year high of $70.36. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $67.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $64.84.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by ($0.12). The company had revenue of $1.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.21 billion. Evergy had a net margin of 14.77% and a return on equity of 8.77%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.54 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Evergy will post 3.83 EPS for the current year.

Evergy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be given a $0.6675 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.67 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.12%. Evergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 70.45%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of EVRG. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Evergy by 7.2% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 278,197 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,251,000 after acquiring an additional 18,595 shares during the period. Czech National Bank raised its position in shares of Evergy by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 49,865 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,069,000 after purchasing an additional 3,021 shares during the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management raised its position in shares of Evergy by 11.4% during the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 28,795 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,772,000 after purchasing an additional 2,948 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital acquired a new position in shares of Evergy during the 4th quarter worth about $211,000. Finally, Pallas Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Evergy by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 10,147 shares of the company’s stock worth $625,000 after purchasing an additional 496 shares during the last quarter. 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.