Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Boosts Stake in Black Hills Corporation $BKH

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Black Hills Corporation (NYSE:BKH) by 84.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,944 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,314 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Black Hills were worth $976,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Spire Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Black Hills by 4,115.4% during the second quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 548 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 535 shares in the last quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. purchased a new stake in Black Hills in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Black Hills by 37.8% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 641 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 176 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Black Hills in the 2nd quarter valued at $43,000. Finally, Hilltop National Bank purchased a new position in shares of Black Hills during the 2nd quarter worth $50,000. 86.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Kimberly F. Nooney sold 14,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 34,621 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,447,704.70. This trade represents a 29.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.63% of the company’s stock.

Black Hills Stock Down 0.7%

BKH opened at $72.45 on Tuesday. Black Hills Corporation has a 1 year low of $54.92 and a 1 year high of $74.23. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $71.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $65.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.91. The company has a market cap of $5.28 billion, a PE ratio of 18.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.75.

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

Black Hills Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be given a $0.703 dividend. 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 dividend yield of 3.9%. Black Hills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 70.96%.

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.