Royal Bank of Canada Raises Stake in Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG)

Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in shares of Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG - Free Report) by 104.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 476,323 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 243,544 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned 0.21% of Evergy worth $29,318,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in Evergy by 84.6% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 7,975 shares of the company's stock valued at $501,000 after buying an additional 3,654 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Evergy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $49,000. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Evergy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $214,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Evergy by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 539,263 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,192,000 after acquiring an additional 23,957 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advocate Group LLC lifted its stake in Evergy by 10.8% in the fourth quarter. Advocate Group LLC now owns 132,568 shares of the company's stock worth $8,160,000 after acquiring an additional 12,918 shares during the period. 87.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of Evergy to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Evergy from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $68.00 to $78.00 in a report on Monday, April 28th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Evergy in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $75.00 target price for the company. Citigroup increased their target price on Evergy from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Evergy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $72.44.

Evergy Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EVRG traded up $0.43 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $66.23. 2,052,130 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,976,890. The company has a market capitalization of $15.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.90, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.32. The company's 50-day moving average is $67.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $65.21. Evergy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $52.10 and a 1 year high of $70.36.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $1.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.21 billion. Evergy had a return on equity of 8.77% and a net margin of 14.77%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.54 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Evergy, Inc. will post 3.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Evergy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be issued a $0.6675 dividend. This represents a $2.67 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. Evergy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 70.26%.

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.