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

Evergy, Inc. (NYSE:EVRG) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, November 5th,Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of 0.6675 per share on Friday, December 20th. This represents a $2.67 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This is a positive change from Evergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.64.

Evergy has increased its dividend payment by an average of 6.6% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 20 consecutive years. Evergy has a dividend payout ratio of 66.1% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities 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

EVRG stock opened at $63.87 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $14.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.09, a price-to-earnings-growth 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. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $61.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $57.63.

Evergy (NYSE:EVRG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.07. The firm 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 for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.88 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Evergy will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EVRG has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. 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. UBS Group raised shares of Evergy to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Evergy from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Evergy in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $70.00 price target for the company. Finally, Mizuho started coverage on shares of Evergy in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $67.00 price objective for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Evergy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.88.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Evergy news, SVP Heather A. Humphrey sold 3,347 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.80, for a total transaction of $196,803.60. Following 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 8.66 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Kevin E. Bryant sold 48,141 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.93, for a total value 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 trade represents a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 60,724 shares of company stock worth $3,777,059. 3.26% of the stock is owned by company 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.