Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) Reaches New 12-Month High – Here’s Why

Evergy Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $88.62 and last traded at $87.12, with a volume of 2346808 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $86.27.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on EVRG shares. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Evergy from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Weiss Ratings raised Evergy from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $87.00 price objective on Evergy in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. UBS Group boosted their target price on Evergy from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, BTIG Research assumed coverage on Evergy in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $99.00 price target on the stock. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $90.10.

Evergy Stock Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average is $83.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $80.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.45 and a quick ratio of 0.24.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.06. Evergy had a net margin of 14.63% and a return on equity of 9.09%. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.27 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.54 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Evergy Inc. will post 4.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Evergy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 22nd were given a $0.695 dividend. This represents a $2.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 22nd. Evergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 73.74%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Charles A. Caisley sold 10,787 shares of Evergy stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.46, for a total transaction of $900,283.02. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 37,789 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,153,869.94. This trade represents a 22.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, Director Sandra Aj Lawrence sold 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.41, for a total value of $48,846.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 680 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $55,358.80. The trade was a 46.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 12,748 shares of company stock valued at $1,061,870. 1.52% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. boosted its position in Evergy by 476.6% during the 4th 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 buying an additional 998,400 shares during the period. Freestone Grove Partners LP increased its position in shares of Evergy by 321.1% in the fourth quarter. Freestone Grove Partners LP now owns 854,739 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,960,000 after acquiring an additional 651,738 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in shares of Evergy by 122.4% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 811,202 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,804,000 after acquiring an additional 446,400 shares during the last quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON purchased a new stake in shares of Evergy during the second quarter worth about $29,644,000. Finally, Zimmer Partners LP boosted its holdings in shares of Evergy by 147.8% during the fourth quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 137,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,967,000 after purchasing an additional 425,000 shares during the period. 87.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Evergy

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.