Royal Bank of Canada Acquires 243,544 Shares of Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG)

Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG - Free Report) by 104.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 476,323 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 243,544 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada owned about 0.21% of Evergy worth $29,318,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Evergy in the 4th quarter valued at about $123,000. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Evergy by 14.1% in the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 34,844 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,145,000 after purchasing an additional 4,294 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Evergy by 23.5% in the 4th quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 130,278 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,019,000 after purchasing an additional 24,789 shares during the period. Mufg Securities Americas Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Evergy in the 4th quarter valued at about $209,000. Finally, MainStreet Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Evergy by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. MainStreet Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,877 shares of the company's stock valued at $300,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.24% of the company's stock.

Evergy Stock Performance

Evergy stock traded down $0.05 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $65.78. 298,212 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,975,195. The firm has a market cap of $15.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.79, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $67.15 and a 200 day moving average of $65.22. Evergy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $52.10 and a 12 month high of $70.36.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.66 by ($0.12). The company had revenue of $1.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.21 billion. Evergy had a return on equity of 8.77% and a net margin of 14.77%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.54 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Evergy, Inc. will post 3.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Evergy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.6675 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $2.67 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.06%. Evergy's payout ratio is currently 70.26%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on EVRG. Wall Street Zen cut Evergy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on Evergy in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $75.00 price target for the company. UBS Group raised Evergy from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $68.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Monday, April 28th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised Evergy to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Evergy from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $72.44.

Evergy Company Profile

Evergy, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, transmission, distribution, and sale of electricity in the United States. The company generates electricity through coal, landfill gas, uranium, and natural gas and oil sources, as well as solar, wind, other renewable sources. It serves residences, commercial firms, industrials, municipalities, and other electric utilities.