Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) Shares Sold by Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. reduced its position in shares of Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) by 23.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 74,201 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 22,855 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. owned approximately 0.11% of Black Hills worth $4,051,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nebula Research & Development LLC acquired a new position in Black Hills during the fourth quarter worth about $1,564,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Black Hills by 3.7% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,821,296 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $395,679,000 after acquiring an additional 279,987 shares during the period. Versor Investments LP boosted its position in shares of Black Hills by 227.3% in the 4th quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 31,425 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,695,000 after purchasing an additional 21,825 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co boosted its position in shares of Black Hills by 246.0% in the 4th quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 40,501 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,185,000 after purchasing an additional 28,797 shares during the period. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Black Hills by 2,366.5% in the 4th quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 111,289 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,004,000 after purchasing an additional 106,777 shares during the period. 86.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Black Hills Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE BKH opened at $54.27 on Wednesday. Black Hills Co. has a one year low of $46.43 and a one year high of $61.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.74 billion, a PE ratio of 13.37 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $54.87 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $53.52.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.87 EPS 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 analyst estimates of $683.00 million. Black Hills had a return on equity of 8.37% and a net margin of 12.92%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 21.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.73 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Black Hills Co. will post 3.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Black Hills Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th were issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.79%. Black Hills’s dividend payout ratio is 64.04%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Rebecca B. Roberts sold 3,094 shares of Black Hills stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.84, for a total transaction of $169,674.96. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,956 shares in the company, valued at approximately $436,307.04. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.63% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

About Black Hills

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.