LADENBURG THALM/SH SH Upgrades Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) to Buy

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) was upgraded by investment analysts at LADENBURG THALM/SH SH from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. The firm currently has a $68.50 target price on the stock, up from their previous target price of $59.00. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH’s price target indicates a potential upside of 11.29% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on EVRG. UBS Group upgraded shares of Evergy to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Mizuho initiated coverage on Evergy in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $67.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Evergy from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Evergy from $67.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Evergy in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $70.00 target price for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $64.06.

Evergy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EVRG opened at $61.55 on Thursday. 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 business’s 50 day moving average price is $62.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $59.59. The company has a market cap of $14.16 billion, a PE ratio of 16.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.64. Evergy has a twelve month low of $48.04 and a twelve month high of $65.47.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Evergy news, EVP Kevin E. Bryant sold 48,141 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $62.93. The trade was a 100.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Evergy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its position in shares of Evergy by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 7,778 shares of the company’s stock worth $482,000 after buying an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in Evergy by 47.1% during the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 531 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Evergy by 2.3% in the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 7,751 shares of the company’s stock worth $481,000 after acquiring an additional 171 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its stake in shares of Evergy by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 18,563 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,138,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Evergy by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,715 shares of the company’s stock valued at $354,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. 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.