Raymond James Financial Inc. Purchases New Stake in Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 143,772 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $8,413,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned 0.20% of Black Hills as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Black Hills by 66.8% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 432 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 173 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in Black Hills by 181.5% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 473 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 305 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its position in Black Hills by 373.2% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 530 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 418 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in Black Hills by 83.3% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 625 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 284 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Black Hills in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.71% of the company’s stock.

Black Hills Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE:BKH opened at $59.15 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. Black Hills Co. has a 52-week low of $50.73 and a 52-week high of $65.59. The company has a 50 day moving average of $59.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $60.09. The company has a market capitalization of $4.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.68.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.17. Black Hills had a net margin of 12.84% and a return on equity of 7.82%. As a group, analysts forecast that Black Hills Co. will post 4.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Black Hills Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $0.676 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.57%. This is an increase from Black Hills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Black Hills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.88%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of Black Hills from $67.00 to $66.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th.

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.