Barclays Lowers Evergy (NYSE:EVRG) Price Target to $65.00

Evergy (NYSE:EVRG) had its price target trimmed by Barclays from $67.00 to $65.00 in a report issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. UBS Group upgraded shares of Evergy to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Evergy in a 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 report on Wednesday, October 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.14.

Evergy Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of EVRG stock opened at $61.64 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.95, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.62. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $60.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $56.39. Evergy has a 1 year low of $47.97 and a 1 year high of $62.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 0.59 and a quick ratio of 0.35.

Evergy (NYSE:EVRG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 9th. The company reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.01. Evergy had a return on equity of 8.50% and a net margin of 13.12%. The company had revenue of $1.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.32 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.81 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Evergy will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Evergy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 20th were paid a $0.6425 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 20th. This represents a $2.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.17%. Evergy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 83.17%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Ann D. Murtlow sold 3,301 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.85, for a total transaction of $194,263.85. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $167,545.95. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Evergy news, SVP Heather A. Humphrey sold 3,347 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.80, for a total value of $196,803.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 35,314 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,076,463.20. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Ann D. Murtlow sold 3,301 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.85, for a total transaction of $194,263.85. Following the sale, the director now owns 2,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $167,545.95. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,884 shares of company stock valued at $941,810 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Evergy

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Evergy by 47.1% in the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 531 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC raised its holdings in Evergy by 12.3% during the 2nd quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 1,705 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,000 after buying an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Evergy by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 19,009 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,015,000 after buying an additional 192 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Evergy by 16.3% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,483 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Keeley Teton Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Evergy by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Keeley Teton Advisors LLC now owns 37,950 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,026,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. 87.24% of the stock is currently 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.