Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) Shares Bought by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) by 4.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,143,567 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 322,271 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 11.94% of Black Hills worth $439,345,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BKH. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Black Hills by 53.8% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 752 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP increased its position in shares of Black Hills by 101.2% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 807 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 406 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its position in shares of Black Hills by 564.3% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,046 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $110,000 after purchasing an additional 1,738 shares during the last quarter. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Black Hills in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $121,000. Finally, First Personal Financial Services purchased a new stake in shares of Black Hills in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $175,000. 86.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Black Hills

In other news, Director Rebecca B. Roberts sold 3,094 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.84, for a total value of $169,674.96. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,956 shares in the company, valued at approximately $436,307.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on BKH shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Black Hills from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Black Hills from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Black Hills from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Black Hills from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Black Hills has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $55.60.

Black Hills Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE:BKH opened at $53.56 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $3.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.19 and a beta of 0.69. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $54.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $53.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.61. Black Hills Co. has a 1-year low of $46.43 and a 1-year high of $61.94.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $726.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $683.00 million. Black Hills had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 8.37%. Black Hills’s quarterly revenue was down 21.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.73 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Black Hills Co. will post 3.92 EPS for the current year.

Black Hills Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th were paid a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.85%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 16th. Black Hills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.04%.

Black Hills Company Profile

Black Hills Corporation, through its subsidiaries, operates as an electric and natural gas utility company in the United States. The company operates in two segments: Electric Utilities and Gas Utilities. The Electric Utilities segment generates, transmits, and distributes electricity to approximately 222,000 electric utility customers in Colorado, Montana, South Dakota, and Wyoming; and owns and operates 1,394 megawatts of generation capacity and 9,106 miles of electric transmission and distribution lines.