California Public Employees Retirement System Trims Stock Position in Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH)

California Public Employees Retirement System decreased its holdings in Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) by 0.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 336,675 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 742 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Black Hills were worth $18,164,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Black Hills by 3.7% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,821,296 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $395,679,000 after purchasing an additional 279,987 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Black Hills by 640.8% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 256,527 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $13,840,000 after buying an additional 221,898 shares during the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Black Hills by 16.3% during the 3rd quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,344,162 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $68,001,000 after buying an additional 188,266 shares during the last quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Black Hills by 10,111.4% in the 3rd quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC now owns 176,146 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,911,000 after buying an additional 174,421 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Black Hills by 21.9% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 777,396 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,328,000 after acquiring an additional 139,757 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.71% of the company’s stock.

Black Hills Price Performance

BKH stock opened at $54.97 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $52.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $52.31. The firm has a market cap of $3.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.02 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.70. Black Hills Co. has a 1 year low of $46.43 and a 1 year high of $66.85.

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

Black Hills Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.73%. Black Hills’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. StockNews.com lowered Black Hills from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Black Hills from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $55.00.

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.