Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) Shares Sold by California Public Employees Retirement System

California Public Employees Retirement System decreased its stake in Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) by 0.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 336,675 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 742 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned approximately 0.50% of Black Hills worth $18,164,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its position in Black Hills by 678.4% in the 3rd quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 685 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 597 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in Black Hills by 101.2% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 807 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 406 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Black Hills by 525.3% during the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,532 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $78,000 after buying an additional 1,287 shares during the period. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC increased its holdings in Black Hills by 210.2% in the third quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 1,697 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $86,000 after buying an additional 1,150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC raised its position in shares of Black Hills by 564.3% in the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,046 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $110,000 after acquiring an additional 1,738 shares during the period. 86.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on BKH shares. StockNews.com cut Black Hills from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Black Hills from $61.00 to $57.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of Black Hills from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.00.

Black Hills Stock Up 2.1 %

Shares of BKH opened at $54.97 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $52.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $52.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.02 and a beta of 0.64. Black Hills Co. has a one year low of $46.43 and a one year high of $66.85.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.11. Black Hills had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 8.09%. The business had revenue of $591.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $863.67 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.11 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Black Hills Co. will post 3.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Black Hills Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.73%. Black Hills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.33%.

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.