Pacer Advisors Inc. Makes New Investment in Black Hills Corporation $BKH

Pacer Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Black Hills Corporation (NYSE:BKH) during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 17,381 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,070,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in BKH. Trexquant Investment LP bought a new stake in Black Hills during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $2,903,000. State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in Black Hills during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Quarry LP raised its position in shares of Black Hills by 93.6% during the first quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,512 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $92,000 after buying an additional 731 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Black Hills in the first quarter worth $201,000. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Black Hills by 99.8% during the first quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,050 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $428,000 after acquiring an additional 3,522 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Black Hills

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Black Hills from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $66.00 to $81.00 in a report on Friday, November 7th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Black Hills in a report on Monday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $71.00.

Black Hills Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BKH opened at $69.44 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $69.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $62.67. Black Hills Corporation has a 52 week low of $54.92 and a 52 week high of $74.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.54, a PEG ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.75.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45. The firm had revenue of $430.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $439.96 million. Black Hills had a net margin of 12.54% and a return on equity of 7.86%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.35 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Black Hills Corporation will post 4.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Black Hills Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Investors of record on Monday, November 17th were issued a dividend of $0.676 per share. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 17th. Black Hills’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.18%.

Black Hills Profile

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.