BNP Paribas Financial Markets Sells 42,808 Shares of Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets cut its stake in shares of Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) by 69.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 19,001 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 42,808 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets’ holdings in Black Hills were worth $1,112,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Black Hills during the fourth quarter valued at $1,113,000. WCM Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Black Hills by 200.7% during the fourth quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 70,783 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,133,000 after acquiring an additional 47,244 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Black Hills by 43.1% during the fourth quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 8,407 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $492,000 after acquiring an additional 2,533 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Black Hills by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 20,862 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,221,000 after acquiring an additional 2,007 shares during the period. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its holdings in shares of Black Hills by 17.5% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 65,199 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,815,000 after acquiring an additional 9,725 shares during the period. 86.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BKH. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on Black Hills in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $68.00 price objective for the company. Scotiabank cut their price objective on Black Hills from $67.00 to $66.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th.

Black Hills Price Performance

BKH opened at $59.27 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.74. Black Hills Co. has a one year low of $51.66 and a one year high of $65.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $59.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $59.86.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.92 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $805.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $729.73 million. Black Hills had a return on equity of 7.82% and a net margin of 12.84%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.87 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Black Hills Co. will post 4.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Black Hills Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.676 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.56%. Black Hills’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.88%.

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.