Zacks Research Decreases Earnings Estimates for Evergy

Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG - Free Report) - Analysts at Zacks Research cut their FY2024 earnings per share estimates for shares of Evergy in a note issued to investors on Monday, January 6th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now forecasts that the company will post earnings of $3.84 per share for the year, down from their previous estimate of $3.85. The consensus estimate for Evergy's current full-year earnings is $3.84 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Evergy's Q4 2024 earnings at $0.38 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $2.00 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $0.52 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $4.26 EPS.

EVRG has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Evergy from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Evergy in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $70.00 target price on the stock. Mizuho initiated coverage on Evergy in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $67.00 price target for the company. UBS Group raised Evergy to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Barclays dropped 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $64.06.

Evergy Trading Up 0.6 %

Evergy stock traded up $0.37 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $60.91. The company had a trading volume of 3,043,975 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,702,275. Evergy has a 12-month low of $48.04 and a 12-month high of $65.47. 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's 50 day moving average price is $62.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $59.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.46, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.64.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion for 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 firm's revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.88 earnings per share.

Evergy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were given a $0.6675 dividend. This is an increase from Evergy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $2.67 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.38%. Evergy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 72.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Evergy

In other Evergy news, EVP Kevin E. Bryant sold 48,141 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.93, for a total value of $3,029,513.13. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1 shares of the company's stock, valued at $62.93. This represents a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.47% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Evergy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of EVRG. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Evergy during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Evergy during the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Evergy by 47.1% in the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 531 shares of the company's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its stake in shares of Evergy by 47.8% in the second quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 856 shares of the company's stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sentry Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Evergy in the third quarter valued at $51,000. 87.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.