AlphaQuest LLC Makes New Investment in Black Hills Corporation $BKH

AlphaQuest LLC bought a new stake in shares of Black Hills Corporation (NYSE:BKH) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 21,978 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,354,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Black Hills by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 21,456 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,321,000 after purchasing an additional 418 shares during the last quarter. Summit Global Investments lifted its position in Black Hills by 1.6% in the third quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 18,902 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,164,000 after buying an additional 302 shares during the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Black Hills in the third quarter worth $388,000. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its stake in Black Hills by 13.4% during the third quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 4,182 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $258,000 after buying an additional 493 shares during the period. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. increased its position in Black Hills by 2.1% during the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 57,099 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,517,000 after acquiring an additional 1,170 shares during the last quarter. 86.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BKH has been the topic of several analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Black Hills from $70.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Scotiabank upgraded Black Hills from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $66.00 to $81.00 in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Black Hills in a report on Monday, December 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $75.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Black Hills news, CFO Kimberly F. Nooney sold 14,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total transaction of $1,025,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 34,621 shares in the company, valued at $2,447,704.70. This represents a 29.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.63% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Black Hills Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:BKH opened at $72.95 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $71.15 and its 200 day moving average is $64.98. The stock has a market cap of $5.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.75. Black Hills Corporation has a 52-week low of $54.92 and a 52-week high of $74.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.45. The business had revenue of $430.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $439.96 million. Black Hills had a return on equity of 7.86% and a net margin of 12.54%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.35 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Black Hills Corporation will post 4.12 EPS for the current year.

Black Hills Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, March 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.703 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 17th. This is a positive change from Black Hills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.81 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. Black Hills’s dividend payout ratio is 68.18%.

About Black Hills

Black Hills Corporation is a diversified energy company based in Rapid City, South Dakota, that provides electricity and natural gas distribution services to residential, commercial and industrial customers. Through its regulated utility subsidiaries—Black Hills Power, Cheyenne Light & Power, and Black Hills Energy—the company delivers reliable energy across Colorado, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wyoming.

In addition to its distribution operations, Black Hills owns and operates a generation portfolio that includes natural gas–fired plants, coal-fired units, hydroelectric facilities and wind projects.