Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Acquires New Shares in Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 5,963 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $322,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY grew its stake in Black Hills by 16.9% in the 4th quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 16,777 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $905,000 after buying an additional 2,423 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in Black Hills in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $365,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Black Hills by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 30,952 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,670,000 after buying an additional 1,268 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in Black Hills by 101.2% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 807 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 406 shares during the period. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC bought a new position in Black Hills in the 4th quarter valued at $220,000. 86.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BKH has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Black Hills from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. StockNews.com cut shares of Black Hills from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Black Hills from $61.00 to $57.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $55.80.

Black Hills Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BKH opened at $52.45 on Friday. Black Hills Co. has a 1 year low of $46.43 and a 1 year high of $66.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.56. The company’s 50-day moving average is $52.65 and its 200 day moving average is $52.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.38 and a beta of 0.64.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.11. Black Hills had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 8.09%. The company had revenue of $591.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $863.67 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.11 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Black Hills Co. will post 3.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Black Hills Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 16th were given a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.96%. This is a boost from Black Hills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. Black Hills’s payout ratio is currently 66.33%.

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.