Here's Why You Should Add Evergy Stock to Your Portfolio Right Now

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 ProjectionsThe 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 EVRGCurrently, 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 GrowthEvergy 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 InvestmentsEvergy’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 PerformanceIn 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 ConsiderA 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%. 5 Stocks Set to DoubleEach was handpicked by a Zacks expert as the #1 favorite stock to gain +100% or more in 2024. While not all picks can be winners, previous recommendations have soared +143.0%, +175.9%, +498.3% and +673.0%.Most of the stocks in this report are flying under Wall Street radar, which provides a great opportunity to get in on the ground floor.Today, See These 5 Potential Home Runs >>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 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).Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks