10,996 Shares in Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) Acquired by Ieq Capital LLC

Ieq Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 10,996 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $643,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BKH. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Black Hills by 181.5% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 473 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 305 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its holdings in Black Hills by 373.2% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 530 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 418 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Black Hills by 84.9% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 577 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 265 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in shares of Black Hills by 83.3% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 625 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 284 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Black Hills in the third quarter worth about $45,000. 86.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Black Hills Stock Performance

BKH opened at $59.75 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.24, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a fifty day moving average of $58.54 and a 200 day moving average of $59.82. Black Hills Co. has a fifty-two week low of $50.72 and a fifty-two week high of $65.59.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.17. Black Hills had a return on equity of 7.82% and a net margin of 12.84%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Black Hills Co. will post 4.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Black Hills Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.676 per share. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.53%. This is a boost from Black Hills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. Black Hills’s dividend payout ratio is 68.88%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Scotiabank decreased their target price on Black Hills from $67.00 to $66.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th.

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.