Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) Hits New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $69.93 and last traded at $67.70, with a volume of 2540597 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $69.52.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on EVRG. Guggenheim upgraded shares of Evergy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Evergy from $65.00 to $62.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of Evergy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $59.00 to $68.50 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Evergy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $65.36.

Evergy Stock Down 1.9 %

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 $15.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.76, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.62. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $64.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $62.41.

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

Evergy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.6675 per share. This represents a $2.67 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.06%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Evergy’s dividend payout ratio is 70.45%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new position in Evergy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. National Pension Service bought a new position in Evergy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust bought a new position in Evergy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new position in Evergy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Colonial Trust Co SC bought a new position in Evergy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. 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.