Evergy (NYSE:EVRG) Sets New 1-Year High - Should You Buy?

Evergy, Inc. (NYSE:EVRG - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $64.14 and last traded at $63.94, with a volume of 69521 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $63.76.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Mizuho started coverage on Evergy in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $67.00 price target on the stock. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Evergy from $67.00 to $65.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 21st. UBS Group upgraded shares of Evergy to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Evergy in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $70.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Evergy from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $61.88.

Evergy Stock Up 0.2 %

The business's 50 day moving average is $61.20 and its 200-day moving average is $57.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.55. The stock has a market cap of $14.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.26, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.62.

Evergy (NYSE:EVRG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.88 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Evergy, Inc. will post 3.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Evergy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.6675 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This is an increase from Evergy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. This represents a $2.67 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.18%. Evergy's payout ratio is currently 72.16%.

Insider Activity at Evergy

In other news, SVP Heather A. Humphrey sold 3,347 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.80, for a total transaction of $196,803.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 35,314 shares in the company, valued at $2,076,463.20. This represents a 8.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Kevin E. Bryant sold 48,141 shares of the company's 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 directly owns 1 shares in the company, valued at $62.93. This represents a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 60,724 shares of company stock valued at $3,777,059 over the last three months. 0.47% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of EVRG. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Evergy in the second quarter valued at $27,000. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Evergy during the third quarter valued at $32,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Evergy by 47.1% during the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 531 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Evergy during the second quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Evergy during the second quarter valued at $41,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.24% of the company's stock.

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.