Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) Shares Purchased by Private Advisor Group LLC

Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its holdings in Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) by 74.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,975 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,971 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Black Hills were worth $408,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its position in Black Hills by 373.2% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 530 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 418 shares in the last quarter. Convergence Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Black Hills by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Convergence Investment Partners LLC now owns 24,070 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,409,000 after purchasing an additional 1,730 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Black Hills during the fourth quarter worth $784,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Black Hills by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 211,325 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $12,367,000 after purchasing an additional 7,771 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. boosted its stake in shares of Black Hills by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 98,413 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,759,000 after purchasing an additional 8,365 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.71% of the company’s stock.

Black Hills Stock Performance

Black Hills stock opened at $60.73 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $58.81 and a 200-day moving average of $59.94. The stock has a market cap of $4.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.73. Black Hills Co. has a 52 week low of $50.72 and a 52 week high of $65.59.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.37 earnings per share 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%. On average, analysts expect that Black Hills Co. will post 4.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Black Hills Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a dividend of $0.676 per share. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This is an increase from Black Hills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Black Hills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.88%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Scotiabank cut their price objective on shares of Black Hills from $67.00 to $66.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock 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.