Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Reduces Position in Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lessened its holdings in shares of Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) by 3.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 6,169 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 224 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in Black Hills were worth $361,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Black Hills by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,602,223 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $503,402,000 after buying an additional 37,790 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Black Hills by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,663,157 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $101,671,000 after buying an additional 33,853 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Black Hills by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,225,653 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $71,725,000 after buying an additional 39,369 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Black Hills by 109.8% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 882,646 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $53,356,000 after buying an additional 461,894 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Black Hills by 19.3% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 551,582 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,279,000 after purchasing an additional 89,181 shares in the last quarter. 86.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Black Hills Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of BKH opened at $58.04 on Thursday. Black Hills Co. has a one year low of $50.73 and a one year high of $65.59. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $59.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $59.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.97. The company has a market capitalization of $4.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.64.

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

Black Hills Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $0.676 dividend. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.66%. This is a boost from Black Hills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Black Hills’s payout ratio is presently 68.88%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Scotiabank lowered their target price on Black Hills from $67.00 to $66.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th.

Black Hills 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.