Evergy, Inc. (NYSE:EVRG) Increases Dividend to $0.67 Per Share

Evergy, Inc. (NYSE:EVRG) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, November 8th,Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of 0.6675 per share on Friday, December 20th. This represents a $2.67 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.28%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This is a positive change from Evergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.64.

Evergy has raised its dividend by an average of 6.6% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 19 consecutive years. Evergy has a dividend payout ratio of 63.6% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Evergy to earn $4.04 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.57 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 63.6%.

Evergy Trading Up 1.7 %

NYSE EVRG traded up $1.02 on Friday, reaching $62.43. The company had a trading volume of 1,687,984 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,061,181. The firm has a market cap of $14.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.62. Evergy has a fifty-two week low of $47.97 and a fifty-two week high of $62.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 0.59 and a quick ratio of 0.35. The business has a 50 day moving average of $60.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $57.03.

Evergy (NYSE:EVRG) last issued 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 8.50% and a net margin of 13.12%. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.35 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.88 earnings per share. Evergy’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Evergy will post 3.84 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on EVRG. Barclays decreased their target price on Evergy from $67.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Evergy in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $70.00 price target on the stock. Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of Evergy in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $67.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group raised shares of Evergy to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Evergy from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $61.88.

Insider Transactions at Evergy

In other Evergy news, SVP Heather A. Humphrey sold 3,347 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.80, for a total value of $196,803.60. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 35,314 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,076,463.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Heather A. Humphrey sold 3,347 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.80, for a total transaction of $196,803.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 35,314 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,076,463.20. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Ann D. Murtlow sold 3,301 shares of Evergy stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.85, for a total transaction of $194,263.85. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 2,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $167,545.95. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 15,884 shares of company stock worth $941,810 over the last 90 days. 3.26% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Evergy Company Profile

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.