Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) Shares Purchased by Jupiter Asset Management Ltd.

Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. raised its stake in Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) by 39.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 483,120 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 137,356 shares during the period. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Black Hills were worth $26,378,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Financial Advocates Investment Management increased its holdings in shares of Black Hills by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 4,988 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $269,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Uncommon Cents Investing LLC increased its stake in Black Hills by 2.0% in the first quarter. Uncommon Cents Investing LLC now owns 10,710 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $585,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its stake in Black Hills by 0.3% in the first quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 85,382 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,662,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Black Hills by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 8,188 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $442,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in shares of Black Hills by 56.3% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 650 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 234 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Black Hills

In other news, Director Rebecca B. Roberts sold 3,094 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.84, for a total transaction of $169,674.96. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,956 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $436,307.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on BKH shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Black Hills from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. Mizuho raised their price objective on Black Hills from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Black Hills from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 10th. Finally, Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of Black Hills from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $55.60.

Black Hills Stock Performance

Shares of Black Hills stock traded down $0.61 on Friday, reaching $57.68. 297,637 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 446,603. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.98 billion, a PE ratio of 14.21 and a beta of 0.69. Black Hills Co. has a 1-year low of $46.43 and a 1-year high of $61.94. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $54.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $53.68.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.70 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $726.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $683.00 million. Black Hills had a return on equity of 8.37% and a net margin of 12.92%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 21.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.73 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Black Hills Co. will post 3.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Black Hills Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th were issued a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.51%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 16th. Black Hills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.04%.

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.