Proficio Capital Partners LLC Invests $1.11 Million in Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 19,019 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,113,000.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted 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 during the period. Zimmer Partners LP acquired a new position in Black Hills in the 3rd quarter worth $96,374,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Black Hills by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,225,653 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $71,725,000 after purchasing an additional 39,369 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Black Hills by 109.8% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 882,646 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $53,356,000 after purchasing an additional 461,894 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Black Hills by 19.3% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 551,582 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,279,000 after purchasing an additional 89,181 shares in the last quarter. 86.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Scotiabank dropped their target price on Black Hills from $67.00 to $66.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th.

Black Hills Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of BKH stock opened at $60.34 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $59.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $60.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. Black Hills Co. has a 1 year low of $50.73 and a 1 year high of $65.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.39, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.68.

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

Black Hills Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $0.676 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.48%. This is a boost from Black Hills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Black Hills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.88%.

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.