Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,900,000 shares, a decrease of 7.6% from the March 15th total of 3,140,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 573,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.1 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on BKH. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Black Hills from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Black Hills from $61.00 to $57.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Black Hills from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Black Hills has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $55.80.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Black Hills

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BKH. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can raised its position in shares of Black Hills by 11.1% in the first quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 36,590 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,896,000 after buying an additional 3,657 shares during the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC increased its position in Black Hills by 4.4% during the first quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 34,426 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,651,000 after purchasing an additional 1,466 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. increased its position in Black Hills by 8.2% during the first quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 8,190 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $631,000 after purchasing an additional 618 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Black Hills by 7.2% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 748,590 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $57,656,000 after purchasing an additional 50,038 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its position in Black Hills by 1.1% during the first quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 13,420 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,034,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. 86.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Black Hills Price Performance

BKH traded down $0.81 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $51.19. 377,370 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 555,180. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The company has a market capitalization of $3.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.06 and a beta of 0.64. Black Hills has a 52-week low of $46.43 and a 52-week high of $66.85. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $52.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $52.00.

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. The business had revenue of $591.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $863.67 million. Black Hills had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 8.09%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.11 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Black Hills will post 3.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Black Hills Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 16th were given a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.08%. This is a boost from Black Hills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. Black Hills’s dividend payout ratio is 66.33%.

About Black Hills

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.