Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. Grows Position in Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH)

Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its position in Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 51,960 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 564 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. owned 0.08% of Black Hills worth $2,826,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Black Hills by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 949,278 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $51,622,000 after buying an additional 3,544 shares in the last quarter. AMG National Trust Bank lifted its position in Black Hills by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 34,596 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,881,000 after acquiring an additional 327 shares during the period. Summit Global Investments lifted its position in Black Hills by 18.3% during the 2nd quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 18,297 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $995,000 after acquiring an additional 2,834 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Black Hills by 4.0% during the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 50,636 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,754,000 after acquiring an additional 1,960 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Leeward Investments LLC MA grew its holdings 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 worth $9,253,000 after purchasing an additional 9,048 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Scotiabank lifted 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, August 20th. StockNews.com raised shares of Black Hills from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Black Hills from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Black Hills from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $58.00.

Black Hills Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BKH opened at $59.12 on Friday. 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 Co. has a 12-month low of $46.43 and a 12-month high of $59.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.56 and a beta of 0.68. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $56.92 and a 200 day moving average of $54.90.

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

Black Hills Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 19th will be given a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 19th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.40%. Black Hills’s payout ratio is currently 64.04%.

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.