Creative Planning Increases Stock Holdings in Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH)

Creative Planning increased its holdings in Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 24,537 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 966 shares during the quarter. Creative Planning’s holdings in Black Hills were worth $1,500,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Black Hills in the first quarter valued at about $31,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Black Hills by 77.2% during the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 732 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 319 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP lifted its stake in Black Hills by 158.0% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 841 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 515 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. lifted its stake in Black Hills by 972.3% in the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in Black Hills during the 1st quarter valued at $83,000. 86.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Black Hills Price Performance

BKH stock opened at $59.93 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.19 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23. Black Hills Co. has a 52-week low of $47.49 and a 52-week high of $62.20. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $60.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $57.16.

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

Black Hills Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.34%. Black Hills’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.04%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on BKH shares. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Black Hills from $54.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Black Hills from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Black Hills currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.