Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) Shares Sold by Atria Wealth Solutions Inc.

Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. lessened its stake in Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) by 49.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,139 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 6,986 shares during the period. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Black Hills were worth $418,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Black Hills by 2.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,663,157 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $101,671,000 after buying an additional 33,853 shares in the last quarter. Zimmer Partners LP acquired a new position in Black Hills in the 3rd quarter worth about $96,374,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Black Hills by 109.8% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 882,646 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $53,356,000 after acquiring an additional 461,894 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its position in Black Hills by 4.5% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 500,826 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,610,000 after buying an additional 21,697 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Black Hills by 16.0% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 408,877 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $24,991,000 after acquiring an additional 56,440 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.71% of the company’s stock.

Black Hills Price Performance

NYSE BKH opened at $60.48 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.33 billion, a PE ratio of 15.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.73. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $58.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $59.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.97. Black Hills Co. has a twelve month low of $50.72 and a twelve month high of $65.59.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.17. Black Hills had a net margin of 12.84% and a return on equity of 7.82%. Research analysts anticipate that Black Hills Co. will post 4.12 EPS for the current year.

Black Hills Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $0.676 dividend. This is a boost from Black Hills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.47%. Black Hills’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.88%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Scotiabank decreased 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 report on Friday, February 7th.

Black Hills 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.