Hennessy Advisors Inc. Sells 14,900 Shares of Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. lowered its holdings in Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) by 24.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 46,047 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 14,900 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc. owned about 0.07% of Black Hills worth $2,504,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in Black Hills by 108.0% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 101,774 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,557,000 after purchasing an additional 52,837 shares in the last quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC bought a new position in Black Hills in the fourth quarter valued at $1,564,000. Leeward Investments LLC MA grew its position in Black Hills by 5.6% in the second quarter. Leeward Investments LLC MA now owns 170,148 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,253,000 after purchasing an additional 9,048 shares in the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. grew its position in Black Hills by 39.7% in the first quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 483,120 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,378,000 after purchasing an additional 137,356 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versor Investments LP grew its position in Black Hills by 227.3% in the fourth quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 31,425 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,695,000 after purchasing an additional 21,825 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BKH has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Black Hills from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Black Hills from $54.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Black Hills from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com raised Black Hills from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Black Hills has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $58.00.

Black Hills Stock Performance

NYSE:BKH opened at $58.26 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $56.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $54.55. The stock has a market cap of $4.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.41 and a beta of 0.68. Black Hills Co. has a 1-year low of $46.43 and a 1-year high of $59.82. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $402.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $498.00 million. Black Hills had a net margin of 12.96% and a return on equity of 8.28%. Black Hills’s quarterly revenue was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.35 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Black Hills Co. will post 3.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Black Hills Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 19th will be given a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 19th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.46%. Black Hills’s payout ratio is presently 64.04%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Rebecca B. Roberts sold 3,094 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.84, for a total value of $169,674.96. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,956 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $436,307.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.