Evergy, Inc. (NYSE:EVRG) Declares Dividend Increase – $0.67 Per Share

Evergy, Inc. (NYSE:EVRG) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, November 5th,Wall Street Journal reports. Investors 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 yield of 4.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This is a boost 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 increased its dividend annually for the last 20 consecutive years. Evergy has a payout ratio of 66.1% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Evergy to earn $4.04 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.67 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 66.1%.

Evergy Stock Performance

NYSE EVRG opened at $63.98 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $61.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $57.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.71 billion, a PE ratio of 17.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.32. Evergy has a 1 year low of $48.04 and a 1 year high of $64.14.

Evergy (NYSE:EVRG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.07. Evergy had a return on equity of 8.77% and a net margin of 14.77%. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.35 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.88 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Evergy will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Evergy

In other Evergy news, SVP Charles A. Caisley sold 9,236 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.63, for a total transaction of $550,742.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 33,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,993,132.75. This trade represents a 21.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Kevin E. Bryant sold 48,141 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 1 shares in the company, valued at approximately $62.93. This trade represents a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 60,724 shares of company stock worth $3,777,059 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 3.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EVRG has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target 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. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Evergy in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of Evergy in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $67.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group raised Evergy to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on Evergy from $67.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Evergy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $61.88.

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.