Atala Financial Inc Invests $77,000 in Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH)

Atala Financial Inc purchased a new position in shares of Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 1,308 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $77,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of BKH. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Black Hills by 66.8% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 432 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Black Hills by 182.8% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 461 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 298 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in Black Hills by 181.5% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 473 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its holdings in Black Hills by 373.2% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 530 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 418 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in Black Hills by 83.3% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 625 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 284 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.71% of the company’s stock.

Black Hills Trading Up 3.3 %

NYSE BKH opened at $61.27 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $59.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $60.03. Black Hills Co. has a 12 month low of $50.72 and a 12 month high of $65.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.39 billion, a PE ratio of 15.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, analysts expect that Black Hills Co. will post 4.12 EPS for the current year.

Black Hills Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $0.676 per share. This is a positive change from Black Hills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.41%. Black Hills’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.88%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.