Raymond James & Associates Reduces Stock Position in Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH)

Raymond James & Associates lessened its stake in shares of Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) by 82.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 31,601 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 150,943 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates’ holdings in Black Hills were worth $1,705,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in Black Hills in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in Black Hills by 87.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 562 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 262 shares during the period. Belpointe Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Black Hills by 60.6% in the 1st quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 652 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 246 shares during the period. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its holdings in Black Hills by 678.4% in the 3rd quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 685 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 597 shares during the period. Finally, CENTRAL TRUST Co grew its holdings in Black Hills by 63.3% in the 3rd quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 890 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 345 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on BKH shares. StockNews.com cut Black Hills from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective 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. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Black Hills from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $55.80.

Black Hills Stock Performance

NYSE BKH opened at $51.71 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.19 and a beta of 0.64. 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 business’s 50-day simple moving average is $52.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $52.00.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $591.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Black Hills Co. will post 3.9 EPS 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 given a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. This is a positive change from Black Hills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.03%. Black Hills’s payout ratio is 66.33%.

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.