D.A. Davidson & CO. Sells 557 Shares of Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH)

D.A. Davidson & CO. reduced its stake in shares of Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) by 4.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,110 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 557 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Black Hills were worth $767,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in shares of Black Hills by 181.5% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 473 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 305 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Black Hills by 84.9% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 577 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 265 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in Black Hills by 83.3% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 625 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 284 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Black Hills in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $45,000. Finally, Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new position in Black Hills in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $82,000. 86.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Black Hills Stock Up 0.2 %

BKH opened at $59.79 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $58.55 and a 200 day moving average of $59.80. The company has a market cap of $4.28 billion, a PE ratio of 15.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.73. Black Hills Co. has a 12 month low of $50.72 and a 12 month 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.17. Black Hills had a net margin of 12.84% and a return on equity of 7.82%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Black Hills Co. will post 4.12 EPS for the current year.

Black Hills Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $0.676 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This is a boost from Black Hills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.52%. Black Hills’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.88%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.