AlphaQuest LLC Invests $1.35 Million in Black Hills Corporation $BKH

AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new stake in Black Hills Corporation (NYSE:BKH) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 21,978 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,354,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BKH. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in Black Hills by 37.8% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 641 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. Lesa Sroufe & Co grew its holdings in Black Hills by 0.5% during the third quarter. Lesa Sroufe & Co now owns 45,833 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,823,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares during the period. Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its position in Black Hills by 2.5% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 9,068 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $509,000 after acquiring an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank lifted its holdings in Black Hills by 0.7% in the third quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 32,085 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,976,000 after acquiring an additional 234 shares during the period. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Black Hills by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $410,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. 86.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Black Hills news, CFO Kimberly F. Nooney sold 14,500 shares of Black Hills stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total transaction 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.63% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Black Hills Price Performance

Black Hills stock opened at $72.95 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $71.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $64.98. Black Hills Corporation has a 12-month low of $54.92 and a 12-month high of $74.23. The stock has a market cap of $5.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.42, a PEG ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.75.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.45. The business had revenue of $430.20 million during 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%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.35 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate 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 issued a $0.703 dividend. This is an increase from Black Hills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $2.81 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. Black Hills’s payout ratio is presently 68.18%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BKH has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Black Hills from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $66.00 to $81.00 in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Black Hills in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Black Hills from $70.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $75.67.

About Black Hills

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.