Congress Asset Management Co. Lowers Stock Position in Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH)

Congress Asset Management Co. lessened its holdings in shares of Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) by 1.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 90,048 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 937 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co.’s holdings in Black Hills were worth $5,504,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Black Hills by 0.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,203,786 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $447,927,000 after purchasing an additional 60,219 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Black Hills by 31.7% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,147,939 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $62,425,000 after buying an additional 275,994 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Black Hills by 8.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 978,497 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $53,210,000 after buying an additional 78,958 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Black Hills by 0.4% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 949,278 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $51,622,000 after buying an additional 3,544 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in Black Hills by 39.7% in the first quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 483,120 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,378,000 after acquiring an additional 137,356 shares in the last quarter. 86.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on BKH. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Black Hills from $54.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Black Hills from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $58.00.

Black Hills Trading Down 2.1 %

Black Hills stock opened at $57.92 on Friday. Black Hills Co. has a one year low of $48.27 and a one year high of $62.20. The business’s fifty day moving average is $60.12 and its 200 day moving average is $57.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.04 billion, a PE ratio of 14.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.30 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.94.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) last announced its quarterly 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. Black Hills had a net margin of 12.96% and a return on equity of 8.21%. The firm had revenue of $402.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $498.00 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.35 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Black Hills Co. will post 3.91 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 issued a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.49%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. Black Hills’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.36%.

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.