Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) Shares Sold by Millennium Management LLC

Millennium Management LLC cut its holdings in Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) by 63.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 295,978 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 514,455 shares during the quarter. Millennium Management LLC owned about 0.43% of Black Hills worth $16,095,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BKH. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in Black Hills by 346.2% in the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 40,140 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,164,000 after buying an additional 31,145 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Black Hills by 53.8% in the fourth 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. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Black Hills by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 213,290 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,507,000 after acquiring an additional 17,750 shares during the last quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC acquired a new stake in Black Hills during the fourth quarter worth about $1,564,000. Finally, Krane Funds Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Black Hills during the fourth quarter worth about $459,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.71% of the company’s stock.

Black Hills Stock Performance

Shares of BKH stock opened at $59.95 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.06. The firm has a market cap of $4.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.77, a P/E/G ratio of 4.36 and a beta of 0.69. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $59.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $56.28. Black Hills Co. has a one year low of $46.60 and a one year high of $61.96.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.04. Black Hills had a return on equity of 8.21% and a net margin of 12.96%. The company had revenue of $402.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $498.00 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.35 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Black Hills Co. will post 3.9 EPS for the current year.

Black Hills Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 19th were paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 19th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.34%. Black Hills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.04%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BKH. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Black Hills from $54.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Black Hills from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $58.00.

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.