SG Americas Securities LLC Cuts Stake in Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH)

SG Americas Securities LLC reduced its stake in Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) by 84.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,353 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 12,385 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Black Hills were worth $127,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV boosted its position in shares of Black Hills by 18.9% during the fourth quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 8,783 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $474,000 after buying an additional 1,398 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Black Hills by 17.5% during the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,554 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $515,000 after buying an additional 1,422 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Black Hills by 33.8% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 17,215 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $929,000 after buying an additional 4,345 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co boosted its position in shares of Black Hills by 246.0% during the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 40,501 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,185,000 after buying an additional 28,797 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its position in shares of Black Hills by 18.9% during the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 12,521 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $676,000 after buying an additional 1,988 shares during the last quarter. 86.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Black Hills Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:BKH opened at $51.71 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.19 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.70. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $52.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $52.00. Black Hills Co. has a 52-week low of $46.43 and a 52-week high of $66.85.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $591.70 million for 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 firm earned $1.11 EPS. Analysts expect that Black Hills Co. will post 3.9 EPS for the current year.

Black Hills Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 16th were paid a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. This is a boost from Black Hills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.03%. Black Hills’s dividend payout ratio is 66.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on BKH shares. StockNews.com cut Black Hills from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Black Hills from $61.00 to $57.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their target price on Black Hills from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.80.

About Black Hills

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.