Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Trims Stake in Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH)

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. cut its position in Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) by 2.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 60,107 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,362 shares during the quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in Black Hills were worth $3,674,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Insight Folios Inc raised its stake in Black Hills by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Insight Folios Inc now owns 112,983 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,906,000 after acquiring an additional 6,937 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its position in shares of Black Hills by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 7,892 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $482,000 after purchasing an additional 545 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Black Hills by 20.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,569 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $340,000 after buying an additional 944 shares during the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its position in Black Hills by 6,074.0% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 35,809 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,189,000 after buying an additional 35,229 shares during the period. Finally, Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in Black Hills by 149.7% in the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,980 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $121,000 after buying an additional 1,187 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on BKH. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Black Hills from $54.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Black Hills from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Black Hills currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $58.00.

Black Hills Stock Performance

Black Hills stock opened at $59.93 on Wednesday. Black Hills Co. has a fifty-two week low of $47.49 and a fifty-two week high of $62.20. The company has a market capitalization of $4.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.76, a PEG ratio of 4.19 and a beta of 0.69. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $60.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $57.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.06.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.04. Black Hills had a net margin of 12.96% and a return on equity of 8.21%. The firm had revenue of $402.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $498.00 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.35 earnings per share. Black Hills’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Black Hills Co. will post 3.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Black Hills Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.34%. Black Hills’s payout ratio 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.