Arizona State Retirement System Has $1.01 Million Stock Position in Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH)

Arizona State Retirement System lowered its stake in Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 18,761 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 297 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Black Hills were worth $1,012,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Black Hills Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:BKH opened at $52.00 on Tuesday. Black Hills Co. has a 12-month low of $46.43 and a 12-month high of $66.85. The stock has a market cap of $3.55 billion, a PE ratio of 13.27 and a beta of 0.64. The business has a 50 day moving average of $52.56 and a 200-day moving average of $51.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 period in the previous year, the company posted $1.11 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Black Hills Co. will post 3.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Black Hills Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 16th were paid a $0.65 dividend. This is a boost from Black Hills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. Black Hills’s payout ratio is 66.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on BKH shares. StockNews.com cut Black Hills from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Black Hills from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Black Hills from $61.00 to $57.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.