Guggenheim Upgrades Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) to Buy

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) was upgraded by Guggenheim from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Thursday, MarketBeat reports.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on EVRG. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded Evergy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $59.00 to $68.50 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Evergy from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Evergy from $67.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Mizuho started coverage on shares of Evergy in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $67.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $65.79.

Evergy Price Performance

EVRG stock opened at $63.52 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $62.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $60.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The stock has a market cap of $14.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.17, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.64. Evergy has a fifty-two week low of $48.04 and a fifty-two week high of $65.47.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.35 billion. Evergy had a net margin of 14.77% and a return on equity of 8.77%. The company’s revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.88 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Evergy will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Evergy

In other news, EVP Kevin E. Bryant sold 48,141 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.93, for a total transaction of $3,029,513.13. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $62.93. This represents a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.47% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Evergy

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Evergy by 391.1% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 97,186 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,030,000 after acquiring an additional 77,398 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp increased its holdings in shares of Evergy by 60.6% in the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 44,024 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,332,000 after purchasing an additional 16,619 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its stake in shares of Evergy by 29.1% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 997,832 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,806,000 after purchasing an additional 224,679 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in Evergy by 34.0% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 945,148 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,609,000 after buying an additional 239,599 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its position in Evergy by 2.9% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 515,306 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,954,000 after buying an additional 14,383 shares during the period. 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.