Evergy EVRG continues to benefit from the expansion of operations in the transmission market through collaborations, strategic acquisitions and partnerships. Through planned investments and the Integrated Resource Plan, Evergy aims to add more renewable assets and become carbon neutral by 2045. Given its growth opportunities, EVRG makes for a solid investment option in the utility sector.
Let’s focus on the factors that make this Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) company a strong investment pick at the moment.
EVRG’s Growth Projections
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for second-quarter 2025 earnings per share (EPS) has increased 2.2% to 95 cents in the past 60 days.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 sales is pinned at $5.98 billion, indicating a year-over-year increase of 2.3%.
EVRG’s long-term (three to five years) earnings growth rate is 5.7%.
Debt Position of EVRG
Currently, Evergy’s total debt to capital is 56.71%, better than the industry’s average of 62.59%.
The time-to-interest earned ratio at the end of the first quarter of 2025 was 2.6. The ratio, being greater than one, reflects the company’s ability to meet future interest obligations without difficulties.
EVRG’s Dividend Growth
Evergy expects its dividends to rise annually in line with its earnings per share growth, subject to approval by its board of directors. Currently, its quarterly dividend is 66.75 cents per share, resulting in an annualized dividend of $2.67 compared with the previous year's $2.57. The company's current dividend yield is 4.12%, better than the industry's 3.12%.
EVRG’s Focus on Investments
Evergy’s long-term investment plans are focused on transmission, distribution infrastructure upgrades and customer-facing platforms to improve reliability. The company targets nearly $17.5 billion in capital investments for 2025-2029, including a new generation of approximately $6.17 billion, which is expected to be renewable.
Evergy's planned capital expenditures are in sync with its new Integrated Resource Plan to achieve net-zero emissions by 2045, with an interim goal of reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 70% within 2030. It aims to lower emissions through the shutdown of fossil-fuel-based plants and the addition of new, efficient units of clean power generation.
EVRG’s Stock Price Performance
In the past year, the stock has risen 15.1% compared with the industry’s growth of 8.8%.
Image Source: Zacks Investment ResearchOther Stocks to Consider
A few other top-ranked stocks from the same industry are CenterPoint Energy CNP, Consolidated Edison ED and WEC Energy Group WEC, each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
CNP’s long-term earnings growth rate is 7.76%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CNP’s 2025 EPS implies a year-over-year improvement of 8%.
ED’s long-term earnings growth rate is 5.57%. The company delivered an average earnings surprise of 3.5% in the past four quarters.
WEC’s long-term earnings growth rate is 6.95%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 EPS implies a year-over-year increase of 8.5%.
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Consolidated Edison Inc (ED): Free Stock Analysis Report WEC Energy Group, Inc. (WEC): Free Stock Analysis Report CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (CNP): Free Stock Analysis Report Evergy Inc. (EVRG): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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