Black Hills Corporation $BKH Shares Acquired by Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Black Hills Corporation (NYSE:BKH) by 84.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm 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.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Spire Wealth Management increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 535 shares during the last quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. purchased a new position in Black Hills in the second quarter valued at about $31,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Black Hills by 37.8% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 641 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Black Hills during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $43,000. Finally, Hilltop National Bank acquired a new position in shares of Black Hills in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $50,000. 86.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Kimberly F. Nooney sold 14,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owned 34,621 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,447,704.70. The trade was a 29.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.63% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Black Hills Trading Down 0.7%

NYSE BKH opened at $72.45 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.91. Black Hills Corporation has a one year low of $54.92 and a one year high of $74.23. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $71.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $65.14. The firm has a market capitalization 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 issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45. The firm had revenue of $430.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $439.96 million. Black Hills had a net margin of 12.54% and a return on equity of 7.86%. Black Hills’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.35 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Black Hills Corporation will post 4.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Black Hills Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, March 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.703 per share. This is a boost from Black Hills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 17th. Black Hills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 70.96%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BKH has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target 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. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Black Hills from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $66.00 to $81.00 in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Black Hills in a report on Monday, December 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Black Hills has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $75.67.

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.