Moors & Cabot Inc. Cuts Holdings in Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH)

Moors & Cabot Inc. lessened its position in shares of Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) by 4.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,779 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 300 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc.’s holdings in Black Hills were worth $397,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Black Hills by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,663,157 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $101,671,000 after purchasing an additional 33,853 shares in the last quarter. Zimmer Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of Black Hills in the third quarter worth $96,374,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Black Hills by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,225,653 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $71,725,000 after acquiring an additional 39,369 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Black Hills by 109.8% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 882,646 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $53,356,000 after purchasing an additional 461,894 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Black Hills by 19.3% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 551,582 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $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 Price Performance

BKH opened at $61.27 on Friday. Black Hills Co. has a twelve month low of $50.72 and a twelve month high of $65.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The firm has a market cap of $4.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.63, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $59.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $60.04.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) last announced its 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 return on equity of 7.82% and a net margin of 12.84%. Equities research analysts expect that Black Hills Co. will post 4.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Black Hills Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $0.676 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.41%. This is an increase from Black Hills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Black Hills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.88%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.