Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Cuts Position in Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH)

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. trimmed its stake in Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) by 80.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 577 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,404 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in Black Hills were worth $31,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Creative Planning raised its stake in shares of Black Hills by 26.8% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 23,571 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,282,000 after acquiring an additional 4,980 shares in the last quarter. Algert Global LLC increased its position in shares of Black Hills by 38.5% during the second quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 28,512 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,550,000 after purchasing an additional 7,924 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Black Hills by 324.7% during the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 127,243 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,919,000 after purchasing an additional 97,285 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Black Hills by 31.7% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,147,939 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $62,425,000 after purchasing an additional 275,994 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. raised its stake in Black Hills by 972.3% in the second quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 890 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 807 shares during the last quarter. 86.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Black Hills Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BKH opened at $59.31 on Monday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $59.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $56.56. The stock has a market cap of $4.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.68, a PEG ratio of 4.19 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23. Black Hills Co. has a 12 month low of $47.49 and a 12 month high of $61.96.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $402.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $498.00 million. Black Hills had a net margin of 12.96% and a return on equity of 8.21%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.35 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Black Hills Co. will post 3.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Black Hills Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Investors of record on Monday, August 19th were given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.38%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 19th. Black Hills’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BKH has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Scotiabank boosted their price target on 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 lifted their price objective on shares of 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $58.00.

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.