Leeward Investments LLC MA Lowers Position in Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH)

Leeward Investments LLC MA lessened its holdings in Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) by 3.8% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 161,100 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 6,422 shares during the quarter. Leeward Investments LLC MA’s holdings in Black Hills were worth $8,796,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Black Hills in the first quarter worth $31,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Black Hills in the first quarter worth $33,000. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Black Hills in the first quarter worth $38,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Black Hills by 77.2% in the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 732 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 319 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Black Hills by 53.8% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 752 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 263 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.71% of the company’s stock.

Black Hills Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:BKH traded up $0.05 on Friday, reaching $54.36. 12,194 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 500,248. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $54.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $53.54. Black Hills Co. has a 52 week low of $46.43 and a 52 week high of $61.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.38 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $726.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $683.00 million. Black Hills had a return on equity of 8.37% and a net margin of 12.92%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 21.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.73 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Black Hills Co. will post 3.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Black Hills Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th were issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.78%. Black Hills’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.04%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on BKH. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Black Hills from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Scotiabank reduced their target price on Black Hills from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Mizuho increased their target price on Black Hills from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Black Hills from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $55.60.

Insider Transactions at Black Hills

In other news, Director Rebecca B. Roberts sold 3,094 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.84, for a total transaction of $169,674.96. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,956 shares in the company, valued at $436,307.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.63% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.