Company Reports

We are reaffirming our $65 fair value estimate and narrow moat rating for Evergy after management released a new, $12.5 billion five-year capital investment plan and reported full-year 2023 earnings.

We are reaffirming our $65 fair value estimate and narrow moat rating for Evergy after reviewing the company's request for a $104 million rate increase in its Missouri West service territory.

With the U.N. Climate Change Conference, otherwise known as COP28, starting this week, we are reasserting our view that the market underappreciates utilities' critical role in limiting global warming.

We are reaffirming our $65 fair value estimate and narrow moat rating for Evergy after meeting with management.

We are reaffirming our $65 fair value estimate for Evergy after the company announced $1.88 per share of adjusted earnings during the third quarter, down from $2.00 in the third quarter of 2022. We are also reaffirming our narrow moat rating.

We are reaffirming our $65 fair value estimate for Evergy after the company announced it reached a settlement that will raise customer rates in Kansas next year. We expect regulators to approve the settlement later this year. Also, we are reaffirming our narrow moat rating.

Evergy formed in June 2018 when Great Plains Energy and Westar Energy merged after two years spent working through the regulatory approval process in Kansas and Missouri. With the integration complete and a new management team in place, Evergy is working to improve historically challenging regulation and invest in clean energy.

We are reaffirming our fair value estimates and economic moat ratings for all U.S. utilities after the sector fell nearly 5% on Monday. We think the sector's 11% drop since last week offers a rare opportunity for investors to buy high-quality utilities at very attractive prices.

We are reaffirming our $65 fair value estimate for Evergy after analyzing second-quarter results and recent regulatory developments in Kansas. We are also reaffirming our narrow moat rating.

We are reaffirming our $65 per share fair value estimate for Evergy after the company announced earning $0.59 per share on an adjusted basis during the first quarter of 2023, up from $0.56 in the same period last year. We are reaffirming our narrow moat and stable moat trend ratings.

Evergy formed in June 2018 when Great Plains Energy and Westar Energy completed their merger after two years spent working through the regulatory approval process in Kansas and Missouri. With the integration complete and a new management team in place, Evergy is working to improve historically challenging regulation and invest in clean energy.

We are reaffirming our $64 per share fair value estimate for Evergy after the company announced earning $3.71 per share on an adjusted basis in 2022, up from $3.46 in 2021. We are reaffirming our narrow moat and stable moat trend ratings.

Evergy formed in June 2018 when Great Plains Energy and Westar Energy completed their merger after two years spent working through the regulatory approval process in Kansas and Missouri. With the integration complete and a new management team in place, Evergy is working to improve historically challenging regulation and invest in clean energy.

We are reaffirming our $63 per share fair value estimate for Evergy after the company announced earning $2.01 per share on an adjusted basis in the third quarter. Year-to-date EPS is $3.43, up 2% from the same period in 2021. Evergy remains on track to meet our full-year 2022 outlook, in line with management's $3.53-$3.63 EPS guidance range. We are reaffirming our narrow moat and stable moat trend ratings.

We are reaffirming our fair value estimates for U.S. utilities after raising our 10-year annual U.S. electricity demand growth forecast to 1.4%, up from 1.2% in our previous forecast two years ago. We also are reaffirming our economic moat and moat trend ratings for all U.S. utilities.

Our initial analysis of the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act that President Joe Biden plans to sign on Aug. 16 has led us to reaffirm or make slight increases to our fair value estimates for U.S. utilities. We are reaffirming our moat and moat trend ratings.

We are raising our fair value estimate to $63 per share from $62 after raising our capital-investment forecast and incorporating time-value appreciation since our last update. We are incorporating Evergy's announcement on Aug. 9 that it plans to buy the 199-megawatt Persimmon Creek Wind Farm in Oklahoma for $250 million. We are reaffirming our narrow-moat and stable-moat-trend ratings.

Evergy formed in June 2018 when Great Plains Energy and Westar Energy completed their merger after two years spent working through the regulatory approval process in Kansas and Missouri. With the integration complete and a new management team in place, Evergy is working to improve historically challenging regulation and invest in clean energy.

We are reaffirming our $62 per share fair value estimate for Evergy after the company reported earning $0.86 per share on an adjusted basis during the second quarter. First-half adjusted earnings are up 3% and on track to meet our full-year expectations. We are reaffirming our narrow-moat and stable-moat-trend ratings.

We are reaffirming our fair value estimates and economic moat ratings for our U.S. utilities coverage after the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported 9.1% core inflation on July 14. We continue to consider inflation to be the largest threat to utilities' long-term returns and ability to pay robust, growing dividends.