Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Acquires 1,268 Shares of Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) by 4.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 30,952 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,268 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Black Hills were worth $1,670,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in Black Hills by 101.2% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 807 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 406 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Black Hills in the 4th quarter valued at $220,000. State of Michigan Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Black Hills by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 16,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $879,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. AdvisorNet Financial Inc lifted its stake in shares of Black Hills by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 24,243 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,308,000 after purchasing an additional 1,625 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Black Hills by 640.8% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 256,527 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $13,840,000 after purchasing an additional 221,898 shares during the period. 86.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on BKH. StockNews.com downgraded Black Hills from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Scotiabank increased their price target on Black Hills from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Black Hills from $61.00 to $57.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $55.80.

Black Hills Stock Performance

Shares of Black Hills stock opened at $54.00 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.69 billion, a PE ratio of 13.78 and a beta of 0.64. Black Hills Co. has a 12 month low of $46.43 and a 12 month high of $66.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $52.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $52.07.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $591.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $863.67 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.11 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Black Hills Co. will post 3.9 EPS for the current year.

Black Hills Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 16th were paid a $0.65 dividend. This is an increase from Black Hills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.81%. Black Hills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.33%.

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.