Evergy (NYSE:EVRG) Stock Rating Upgraded by UBS Group

Evergy (NYSE:EVRG) was upgraded by stock analysts at UBS Group to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Zacks.com reports.

Separately, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Evergy from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Evergy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.00.

Evergy Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of EVRG opened at $61.07 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $58.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $54.77. Evergy has a twelve month low of $46.92 and a twelve month high of $62.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.76, a PEG ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23.

Evergy (NYSE:EVRG) last posted its earnings results on Friday, August 9th. The company reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.32 billion. Evergy had a return on equity of 8.50% and a net margin of 13.12%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.81 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Evergy will post 3.85 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Evergy

In other Evergy news, 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 value of $194,263.85. Following the sale, the director now owns 2,847 shares in the company, valued at $167,545.95. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Ann D. Murtlow sold 3,301 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.85, for a total value of $194,263.85. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 2,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $167,545.95. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Charles A. Caisley sold 9,236 shares of Evergy stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.63, for a total value of $550,742.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 33,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,993,132.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,884 shares of company stock valued at $941,810 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Evergy

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of EVRG. Gilbert & Cook Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Evergy by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 7,008 shares of the company’s stock valued at $366,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Evergy during the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Evergy by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,004,153 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,417,000 after buying an additional 48,194 shares during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Evergy by 36.0% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,442 shares of the company’s stock worth $127,000 after buying an additional 646 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Evergy by 63.0% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 34,894 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,821,000 after acquiring an additional 13,493 shares during the period. 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.