Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) Holdings Lowered by Raymond James & Associates

Raymond James & Associates trimmed its stake in shares of Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) by 82.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 31,601 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 150,943 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates’ holdings in Black Hills were worth $1,705,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in shares of Black Hills during the second quarter valued at $27,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in Black Hills by 87.3% during the third quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 562 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 262 shares during the period. Belpointe Asset Management LLC raised its position in Black Hills by 60.6% during the first quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 652 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 246 shares during the period. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its position in Black Hills by 678.4% during the third quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 685 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 597 shares during the period. Finally, CENTRAL TRUST Co raised its position in Black Hills by 63.3% during the third quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 890 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 345 shares during the period. 86.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Black Hills Stock Performance

Shares of BKH stock opened at $51.71 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.56. Black Hills Co. has a fifty-two week low of $46.43 and a fifty-two week high of $66.85. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $52.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $52.00. The firm has a market cap of $3.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.19 and a beta of 0.64.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.11. Black Hills had a return on equity of 8.09% and a net margin of 11.25%. The company had revenue of $591.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $863.67 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.11 EPS. Analysts predict that Black Hills Co. will post 3.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Black Hills Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 16th were issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This is a positive change from Black Hills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.03%. Black Hills’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on BKH shares. Scotiabank upped their price target on Black Hills from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Black Hills from $61.00 to $57.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Black Hills from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.80.

Black Hills Company 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.