Truist Financial Corp Increases Position in Evergy Inc. $EVRG

Key Points

• Truist Financial Corp boosted its stake in Evergy by 28.4% in Q4 to 1,847,410 shares, holding about $133.9M or ~0.80% of the company.
• Evergy pays a quarterly dividend of $0.695 (annualized $2.78) for a 3.4% yield with a 75.75% payout ratio; the most recent dividend was paid March 20.
• Analyst sentiment is positive-to-moderate—average rating "Moderate Buy" with an average target of $89.30—while institutional ownership is high (~87%) and the stock trades at a market cap of about $19B (P/E ~22.5).

Truist Financial Corp increased its stake in Evergy Inc. (NASDAQ:EVRG - Free Report) by 28.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,847,410 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 408,452 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp owned about 0.80% of Evergy worth $133,919,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Evergy in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Evergy by 1,310.3% in the third quarter. Accredited Wealth Management LLC now owns 409 shares of the company's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 380 shares in the last quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Evergy in the third quarter worth $41,000. TOWER TRUST & INVESTMENT Co purchased a new position in Evergy in the fourth quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in Evergy in the third quarter worth $44,000. 87.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Evergy Stock Performance

Evergy stock opened at $82.61 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $82.06 and a 200-day moving average of $78.12. The firm has a market cap of $19.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.56. Evergy Inc. has a 1-year low of $63.29 and a 1-year high of $85.27.

Evergy (NASDAQ:EVRG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Saturday, January 31st. The company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter. Evergy had a net margin of 14.35% and a return on equity of 8.79%. Sell-side analysts expect that Evergy Inc. will post 4.25 EPS for the current year.

Evergy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $0.695 per share. This represents a $2.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 10th. Evergy's dividend payout ratio is currently 75.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on EVRG. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $91.00 price target on shares of Evergy in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Evergy from $82.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Evergy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 21st. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Evergy from $89.00 to $88.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Evergy from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $89.30.

Insider Transactions at Evergy

In other news, SVP Heather A. Humphrey sold 3,650 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.61, for a total transaction of $301,526.50. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 44,007 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,635,418.27. This represents a 7.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ann D. Murtlow sold 2,847 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.34, for a total transaction of $234,421.98. Following the sale, the director owned 2,311 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $190,287.74. This represents a 55.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 8,937 shares of company stock worth $736,492. Company insiders own 1.52% of the company's stock.

Evergy Company Profile

Evergy, Inc is a regulated electric utility that generates, transmits and distributes electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers primarily across Kansas and western Missouri. The company provides core utility services including retail electric delivery, grid operations, customer service and outage restoration, operating under state regulatory frameworks. Evergy serves a mix of urban and rural communities, including portions of the Kansas City metropolitan area and other population centers in its service territory.

The company's business activities span power generation, system planning, transmission and distribution infrastructure, and customer-facing programs such as energy efficiency and demand-side management.

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