Evergy Benefits From Strategic Investments & Renewable Expansion

Evergy, Inc. EVRG continues to benefit from expansion of operations in the transmission market through collaborations, strategic acquisitions and partnerships. The company intends to add more renewable assets to boost its overall performance.

However, this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company faces risks related to the failure of old equipment and weather fluctuations.

Factors Acting in Favor of EVRG

Evergy has already started to expand its existing operations through partnerships, systematic acquisitions and collaborations. Evergy formed a joint venture (JV) named Transource Energy, which will be focused on developing a competitive transmission project. The JV is focused on the development of competitive electric transmission projects across the United States, which definitely holds huge potential for long-term growth.

EVRG’s long-term investment plans center around transmission, distribution infrastructure upgrades and customer-facing platforms to improve reliability. In 2024, the company invested $2.34 billion in infrastructure to modernize grid. It targets nearly $17.5 billion of capital investments for 2025-2029, including a new generation of around $6.17 billion, which is expected to be a renewable one.

Evergy is actively building renewable projects with a capacity of 800 megawatt (MW). Out of this, 500 MW is included in its 2-3% demand forecast. The company is also set to take advantage of the growing demand from data centers. EVRG has been finalizing agreements of 1.3 gigawatt from two data center projects, including one in Kansas and the expansion of an existing data center customer in Missouri.  

Challenges Faced by EVRG

Despite maintenance, the old equipment might fail, causing unplanned outages and service disruptions, which may force the company to purchase power from others at unpredictable and potentially higher costs in order to meet its sales obligations. The occurrence of extended or unplanned outages could adversely impact EVRG’s consolidated financial results.

Electricity sales are seasonal, and changing weather conditions play a pivotal role in the overall performance of Evergy. Mild winter and summer seasons can reduce demand for electricity, affecting the performance of the company.

EVRG’s Stock Price Performance

In the past six months, shares of the company have risen 8.9% compared with the industry’s 5.7% growth.

Stocks to Consider

Some better-ranked stocks from the same industry are Portland General Electric POR, NiSource NI and CenterPoint Energy CNP, each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

POR’s long-term (three to five years) earnings growth rate is 3.44%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 earnings per share (EPS) is pinned at $3.21, indicating a year-over-year increase of 2.2%.

NI’s long-term earnings growth rate is 7.88%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 EPS is pinned at $1.88, implying year-over-year growth of 7.4%.

CNP’s long-term earnings growth rate is 7.76%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 EPS is pinned at $1.75, suggesting a year-over-year improvement of 8%. 

 

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

Zacks Investment Research