HighTower Advisors LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH)

HighTower Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) by 6.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 51,099 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,967 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Black Hills were worth $3,232,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can raised its stake in Black Hills by 11.1% in the first quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 36,590 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,896,000 after buying an additional 3,657 shares in the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Black Hills by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 34,426 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,651,000 after acquiring an additional 1,466 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. lifted its stake in shares of Black Hills by 8.2% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 8,190 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $631,000 after purchasing an additional 618 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Black Hills by 7.2% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 748,590 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $57,656,000 after purchasing an additional 50,038 shares during the period. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its stake in Black Hills by 1.1% in the first quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 13,420 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,034,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the period. 86.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Black Hills Price Performance

Shares of BKH opened at $53.76 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.54 and a beta of 0.59. Black Hills Co. has a twelve month low of $53.26 and a twelve month high of $79.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $57.83 and a 200 day moving average of $61.13.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $411.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $552.13 million. Black Hills had a return on equity of 7.85% and a net margin of 9.46%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.52 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Black Hills Co. will post 3.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Black Hills Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 18th were paid a dividend of $0.625 per share. This represents a $2.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 17th. Black Hills’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.02%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BKH has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Black Hills from $66.00 to $62.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 4th. TheStreet cut shares of Black Hills from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Black Hills from $68.00 to $61.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Black Hills in a research note on Saturday, August 19th. They issued a “sell” rating on the stock. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price objective on Black Hills from $60.00 to $56.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Black Hills has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $65.29.

Black Hills Profile

Black Hills Corporation, through its subsidiaries, operates as an electric and natural gas utility company in the United States. It operates in two segments, Electric Utilities and Gas Utilities. The Electric Utilities segment generates, transmits, and distributes electricity to approximately 220,000 electric utility customers in Colorado, Montana, South Dakota, and Wyoming; and owns and operates 1,482 megawatts of generation capacity and 9,024 miles of electric transmission and distribution lines.