Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) Raised to “Buy” at Guggenheim

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) was upgraded by investment analysts at Guggenheim from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Thursday, Marketbeat reports.

A number of other analysts have also commented on EVRG. Mizuho assumed coverage on Evergy in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $67.00 price objective on the stock. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of Evergy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $59.00 to $68.50 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Evergy from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Evergy from $67.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Evergy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $65.79.

Evergy Stock Performance

Shares of EVRG opened at $63.52 on Thursday. Evergy has a 12-month low of $48.04 and a 12-month high of $65.47. The stock has a market cap of $14.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.17, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The company has a 50-day moving average of $62.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $60.53.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.35 billion. Evergy had a return on equity of 8.77% and a net margin of 14.77%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.88 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Evergy will post 3.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Evergy

In related news, EVP Kevin E. Bryant sold 48,141 shares of Evergy stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.93, for a total value of $3,029,513.13. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1 shares in the company, valued at approximately $62.93. This trade represents a 100.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Evergy

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of EVRG. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Evergy by 7.2% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,236,343 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,491,000 after buying an additional 83,035 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Evergy by 4.8% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 16,374 shares of the company’s stock worth $867,000 after acquiring an additional 750 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in shares of Evergy by 8.8% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 363,497 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,254,000 after acquiring an additional 29,273 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Evergy by 10.0% during the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 33,390 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,769,000 after acquiring an additional 3,042 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its position in Evergy by 49.9% during the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 39,037 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,068,000 after purchasing an additional 13,001 shares during the period. 87.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.