Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) Shares Sold by New York State Teachers Retirement System

New York State Teachers Retirement System lessened its holdings in shares of Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) by 8.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 87,390 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 8,000 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Black Hills were worth $5,114,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Black Hills by 2.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,663,157 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $101,671,000 after buying an additional 33,853 shares during the period. Zimmer Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of Black Hills during the third quarter worth $96,374,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Black Hills by 109.8% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 882,646 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $53,356,000 after purchasing an additional 461,894 shares during the period. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Black Hills by 4.5% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 500,826 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,610,000 after purchasing an additional 21,697 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Black Hills by 16.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 408,877 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $24,991,000 after acquiring an additional 56,440 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Scotiabank reduced their target price on Black Hills from $67.00 to $66.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th.

Black Hills Trading Down 0.3 %

Black Hills stock opened at $58.89 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $4.22 billion, a PE ratio of 15.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.73. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $58.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $59.72. Black Hills Co. has a 52 week low of $50.72 and a 52 week high of $65.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.17. Black Hills had a return on equity of 7.82% and a net margin of 12.84%. Equities research analysts predict that Black Hills Co. will post 4.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Black Hills Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $0.676 dividend. This is a positive change from Black Hills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.59%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Black Hills’s payout ratio is currently 68.88%.

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.