John G Ullman & Associates Inc. Has $3.10 Million Stock Position in Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH)

John G Ullman & Associates Inc. grew its position in Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) by 21.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 56,842 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 9,962 shares during the period. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. owned 0.08% of Black Hills worth $3,104,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in BKH. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Black Hills in the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Black Hills during the first quarter worth $33,000. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in shares of Black Hills by 56.3% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 650 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares during the period. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Black Hills during the first quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Black Hills by 77.2% during the first 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 period. 86.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BKH has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Black Hills from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Black Hills from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. StockNews.com raised Black Hills from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their price objective on Black Hills from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.60.

Black Hills Trading Up 4.5 %

NYSE:BKH traded up $2.42 on Thursday, reaching $56.58. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 503,079 shares, compared to its average volume of 498,185. Black Hills Co. has a 1-year low of $46.43 and a 1-year high of $61.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.73. The firm has a market cap of $3.90 billion, a PE ratio of 13.94 and a beta of 0.69. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $54.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $53.53.

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

Black Hills Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th were issued a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.60%. Black Hills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.04%.

Insider Activity

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

Black Hills Company 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.