Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) Given New $89.00 Price Target at Barclays

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) had its target price lifted by Barclays from $82.00 to $89.00 in a report released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Evergy from $79.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Evergy from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Evergy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $91.00 target price on shares of Evergy in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Mizuho set a $82.00 target price on Evergy in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.75.

Evergy Stock Performance

Shares of EVRG stock opened at $83.13 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.65, a PEG ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.65. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $77.98 and a 200 day moving average of $75.92. Evergy has a 52 week low of $61.94 and a 52 week high of $85.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Saturday, January 31st. The company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Evergy had a net margin of 14.35% and a return on equity of 8.79%. As a group, research analysts expect that Evergy will post 3.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Evergy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be paid a $0.695 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $2.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. Evergy’s payout ratio is currently 75.75%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Ann D. Murtlow sold 2,847 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.34, for a total transaction of $234,421.98. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 2,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $190,287.74. This represents a 55.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.42% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Evergy

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of EVRG. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of Evergy by 346.2% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,046,787 shares of the company’s stock worth $155,597,000 after acquiring an additional 1,588,100 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Evergy by 969.3% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,329,424 shares of the company’s stock valued at $101,063,000 after purchasing an additional 1,205,101 shares during the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lifted its position in Evergy by 476.6% during the fourth quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,207,882 shares of the company’s stock valued at $87,559,000 after purchasing an additional 998,400 shares during the period. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd purchased a new stake in Evergy in the third quarter worth approximately $72,860,000. Finally, Truist Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Evergy by 169.2% in the third quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 1,438,958 shares of the company’s stock worth $109,390,000 after purchasing an additional 904,400 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.24% of the company’s stock.

Evergy Company Profile

Evergy, Inc is a regulated electric utility that generates, transmits and distributes electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers primarily across Kansas and western Missouri. The company provides core utility services including retail electric delivery, grid operations, customer service and outage restoration, operating under state regulatory frameworks. Evergy serves a mix of urban and rural communities, including portions of the Kansas City metropolitan area and other population centers in its service territory.

The company’s business activities span power generation, system planning, transmission and distribution infrastructure, and customer-facing programs such as energy efficiency and demand-side management.