UBS Group Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) Stock

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) had its price objective hoisted by UBS Group from $66.00 to $68.00 in a report released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Guggenheim upgraded shares of Evergy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Evergy from $62.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of Evergy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Evergy currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.36.

Evergy Stock Down 0.8 %

EVRG stock opened at $67.45 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $65.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $63.10. The company has a market capitalization of $15.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.62. Evergy has a 52 week low of $49.55 and a 52 week high of $69.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by ($0.11). Evergy had a net margin of 14.77% and a return on equity of 8.77%. The firm had revenue of $1.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.24 billion. On average, analysts forecast that Evergy will post 3.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Evergy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $0.6675 per share. This represents a $2.67 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.96%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Evergy’s payout ratio is 70.45%.

Institutional Trading of Evergy

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of EVRG. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP raised its position in Evergy by 164.8% during the fourth quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP now owns 2,312,953 shares of the company’s stock valued at $142,362,000 after buying an additional 1,439,450 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Evergy by 131.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,004,414 shares of the company’s stock valued at $124,294,000 after purchasing an additional 1,138,138 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of Evergy by 15,406.4% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 921,546 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,721,000 after purchasing an additional 915,603 shares during the period. Brandes Investment Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of Evergy in the fourth quarter worth approximately $55,652,000. Finally, Groupama Asset Managment boosted its holdings in shares of Evergy by 3,216.6% during the fourth quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 880,768 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,211,000 after purchasing an additional 854,212 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.24% of the company’s stock.

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.