Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG) Shares Acquired by Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG - Free Report) by 104.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 476,323 shares of the company's stock after acquiring 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 hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Evergy by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,665,885 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,887,485,000 after acquiring an additional 221,086 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Evergy by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,660,930 shares of the company's stock valued at $348,430,000 after acquiring an additional 128,211 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Evergy by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,637,257 shares of the company's stock valued at $346,063,000 after acquiring an additional 133,641 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Evergy by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,555,122 shares of the company's stock valued at $218,818,000 after purchasing an additional 130,804 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. grew its holdings in Evergy by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 3,434,216 shares of the company's stock valued at $211,376,000 after purchasing an additional 73,066 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.24% of the company's stock.

Evergy Stock Down 0.6%

EVRG stock traded down $0.41 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $65.82. 1,058,336 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,296,884. The company has a market capitalization of $15.15 billion, a PE ratio of 17.81, a price-to-earnings-growth 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. Evergy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $52.10 and a twelve month high of $70.36. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $67.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $65.22.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.66 by ($0.12). The company had revenue of $1.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 prior year, the business earned $0.54 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Evergy, Inc. will post 3.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Evergy Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on EVRG. UBS Group raised shares of Evergy from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the company from $68.00 to $78.00 in a report on Monday, April 28th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised Evergy to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Barclays lifted their target price on Evergy from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Citigroup lifted their target price on Evergy from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Evergy in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $75.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $72.44.

About Evergy

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.