Barclays Projects Significant Price Growth for Evergy Stock

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG) recently received an updated target price from Barclays, which raised it from $62.00 to $72.00. This adjustment was made in a research note disseminated to investors on Friday. Barclays has assigned the stock an "overweight" rating, indicating a favorable outlook. The new target implies a potential upside of approximately 8.67% based on Evergy's current trading price.

In addition to Barclays, other research analysts have also weighed in on Evergy's stock performance. For instance, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH elevated their rating from "neutral" to "buy" and set a new target price of $68.50, up from $59.00, in a report released earlier this month. Similarly, Guggenheim changed their rating from "neutral" to "buy" on January 23. Among market analysts, one has issued a hold rating, while a total of eight have rated the stock as a buy. According to data sourced from MarketBeat.com, the average rating for Evergy currently stands at "Moderate Buy," with an average target price of $66.79.

Current Stock Performance

During midday trading on Friday, Evergy’s stock experienced an increase of $0.53, reaching $66.26. The trading volume for the day was 336,852 shares, which is notably less than the average volume of 1,795,451 shares. Over the past year, Evergy has recorded a low of $49.55 and a high of $69.93. The company's financial metrics reveal a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, along with a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.55. Evergy's fifty-day simple moving average stands at $64.39, while the two-hundred-day simple moving average is at $62.41. As of now, the company's market capitalization is $15.24 billion, with a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.91 and a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82, demonstrating a beta of 0.62.

Earnings Results

Evergy recently disclosed its earnings results on February 27, reporting earnings per share (EPS) of $0.35 for the quarter. This figure fell short of analysts' consensus estimates, which anticipated an EPS of $0.46, marking a miss of $0.11. The company's revenue for the quarter was reported at $1.26 billion, beating analysts’ predictions of $1.24 billion. Evergy also posted a return on equity of 8.77%, accompanied by a net margin of 14.77%. Analysts project that Evergy will achieve an EPS of 3.83 for the ongoing year.

Hedge Fund Activity

Recent activities among hedge funds highlight increased interest in Evergy shares. Notably, ExodusPoint Capital Management LP augmented its holdings by a staggering 164.8% in the fourth quarter, accumulating 2,312,953 shares valued at $142,362,000 after an additional acquisition of 1,439,450 shares. In a major move, Mizuho Securities USA LLC expanded its ownership in Evergy by 7,234.3% during the third quarter, now holding 1,300,000 shares worth $80,613,000 following a purchase of 1,282,275 shares. FMR LLC boosted its stake by 131.4% in the same period, bringing its total to 2,004,414 shares valued at $124,294,000 after buying an extra 1,138,138 shares. SG Americas Securities LLC also significantly increased their holdings by 15,406.4% in the fourth quarter, totaling 921,546 shares worth $56,721,000 after adding 915,603 shares. In total, institutional investors presently own approximately 87.24% of Evergy's stock.

About Evergy

Evergy, Inc. operates within the United States, dealing in the generation, transmission, distribution, and sale of electricity. The company utilizes diverse energy sources including coal, landfill gas, uranium, natural gas, solar, wind, and various renewable resources. Evergy serves a wide range of customers, including residential, commercial, industrial, municipalities, and other electric utilities.

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