Kansas City, Missouri-based Evergy, Inc. (EVRG) engages in the generation, transmission, distribution, and sale of electricity in the United States. With a market cap of $14.2 billion, Evergy serves residences, commercial firms, industries, municipalities, and other electric utilities.
Companies worth $10 billion or more are generally described as "large-cap stocks," Evergy fits right into that category, with its market cap exceeding this threshold, reflecting its substantial size, influence, and dominance in the regulated electricity industry. It generates electricity through coal, landfill gas, uranium, natural gas, and oil sources, as well as solar, wind, and other renewable sources.
Evergy touched its 52-week high of $62.24 on Sep. 16 and is now trading marginally below that peak. EVRG gained 17.7% over the past three months, outpacing the Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund’s (XLU) 15.8% gains during the same time frame.
However, over the longer term, EVRG has underperformed XLU. EVRG gained 15.7% over the past 52 weeks and 18.8% in 2024 lagging behind XLU’s 26.9% gains over the past year and 26.8% returns on a YTD basis.
To confirm the recent bullish trend, EVRG has been consistently trading above its 200-day moving average since the start of May and above its 50-day moving average since mid-July.
Despite reporting substantial growth in topline and profits, shares of Evergy experienced a marginal decline after the release of its Q2 earnings reports on Aug. 9. The company reported a robust 6.9% year-over-year growth in operating revenues, reaching $1.5 billion, while improving its net margins by 1.1% to 14.3%. This led to a substantial 15.6% growth in net income, totaling $207 million, translating into an 11.1% growth in adjusted EPS to $0.90. Although the company reported impressive profitability growth, its adjusted EPS fell short of the consensus estimates by 9.1%, making investors jittery.
Nonetheless, Evergy stock has performed well recently, outpacing the utilities sector over the past three months, as demonstrated in the above charts.
Evergy’s competitor, Xcel Energy Inc. (XEL), gained 7.1% over the past 52 weeks and 3.3% in 2024, underperforming EVRG’s double-digit returns.
Among the 12 analysts covering the EVRG stock, the consensus rating is a “Moderate Buy.” The mean price target of $62.78 represents a potential upside of 1.3% from current price levels.
On the date of publication, Aditya Sarawgi did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.
