Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) was the target of a large decline in short interest during the month of July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,900,000 shares, a decline of 6.9% from the June 30th total of 2,040,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 425,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.5 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on BKH. Scotiabank lowered 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 research note on Monday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Black Hills from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Black Hills from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Black Hills from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.60.

Black Hills Stock Performance

BKH traded up $0.02 on Wednesday, hitting $58.97. 870,791 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 493,994. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $55.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $53.88. 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 $4.06 billion, a PE ratio of 14.52 and a beta of 0.69. Black Hills has a 52 week low of $46.43 and a 52 week high of $61.01.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.17. The business 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%. Black Hills’s quarterly revenue was down 21.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.73 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Black Hills will post 3.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Black Hills Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 19th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 19th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.41%. Black Hills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.04%.

Insider Activity at Black Hills

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

Institutional Trading of Black Hills

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in Black Hills by 4.1% during the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 4,736 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $258,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management lifted its holdings in Black Hills by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 4,988 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $269,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Uncommon Cents Investing LLC boosted its position 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 buying an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its stake in Black Hills by 0.3% during the first quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 85,382 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,662,000 after buying an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.71% of the company’s stock.

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.