HTLF Bank Takes Position in Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH)

HTLF Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 24,151 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,303,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BKH. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can grew its holdings in shares of Black Hills by 11.1% during the first quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 36,590 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,896,000 after buying an additional 3,657 shares in the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Black Hills by 4.4% in the first quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 34,426 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,651,000 after purchasing an additional 1,466 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. grew its stake in Black Hills by 8.2% in the first quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 8,190 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $631,000 after purchasing an additional 618 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Black Hills by 7.2% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 748,590 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $57,656,000 after purchasing an additional 50,038 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its stake in Black Hills by 1.1% in the first quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 13,420 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,034,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.71% of the company’s stock.

Black Hills Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BKH traded up $1.31 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $53.77. 98,900 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 547,203. Black Hills Co. has a 1-year low of $46.43 and a 1-year high of $66.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.55 and a beta of 0.64. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $52.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $52.00.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $591.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $863.67 million. Black Hills had a return on equity of 8.09% and a net margin of 11.25%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.11 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Black Hills Co. will post 3.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Black Hills Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 16th were issued a $0.65 dividend. This is a boost from Black Hills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.84%. Black Hills’s dividend payout ratio is 66.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BKH has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Black Hills from $61.00 to $57.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 9th. StockNews.com downgraded Black Hills from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price target on Black Hills from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.80.

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.