Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) Shares Acquired by Retirement Systems of Alabama

Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its stake in shares of Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 85,157 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,362 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Black Hills were worth $4,594,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Black Hills by 2.0% during the third quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 40,887 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,068,000 after purchasing an additional 808 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Black Hills by 2.2% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 884,408 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $44,742,000 after acquiring an additional 18,942 shares during the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its position in Black Hills by 678.4% in the third quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 685 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 597 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in Black Hills by 27.0% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 11,076 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $560,000 after acquiring an additional 2,358 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC raised its position in Black Hills by 210.2% in the third quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 1,697 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $86,000 after purchasing an additional 1,150 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Black Hills from $61.00 to $57.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 9th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Black Hills from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their price target on Black Hills from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $55.00.

Black Hills Stock Performance

Shares of BKH stock opened at $56.48 on Tuesday. Black Hills Co. has a 52 week low of $46.43 and a 52 week high of $66.54. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $53.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $52.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.86 billion, a PE ratio of 14.41 and a beta of 0.64.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $591.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $863.67 million. Black Hills had a return on equity of 8.09% and a net margin of 11.25%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.11 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Black Hills Co. will post 3.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Black Hills Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.60%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. Black Hills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.33%.

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.