Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) Downgraded to “Sell” Rating by Wall Street Zen

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) was downgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on the stock. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Evergy from $79.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Evergy to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Evergy from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Evergy from $77.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Evergy in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $80.72.

Evergy Trading Down 0.7%

Evergy stock opened at $73.28 on Friday. Evergy has a 52-week low of $59.67 and a 52-week high of $79.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.08, a PEG ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.65. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $76.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $72.22.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.14 by ($0.11). Evergy had a net margin of 14.45% and a return on equity of 8.66%. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.02 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Evergy will post 3.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Lesley Lissette Elwell sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.33, for a total transaction of $578,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 499 shares in the company, valued at $36,092.67. The trade was a 94.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.42% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Evergy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Simplicity Wealth LLC bought a new position in Evergy during the second quarter worth about $778,000. Amundi lifted its position in shares of Evergy by 14.2% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 140,301 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,710,000 after buying an additional 17,477 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Evergy by 16.7% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,737,480 shares of the company’s stock valued at $188,749,000 after buying an additional 392,361 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital boosted its stake in Evergy by 11.8% in the 2nd quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 3,845 shares of the company’s stock valued at $265,000 after buying an additional 406 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Integrity Alliance LLC. bought a new stake in shares of Evergy in the 1st quarter worth about $319,000. 87.24% of the stock is currently owned by 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.