Inceptionr LLC Buys New Stake in Black Hills Corporation $BKH

Inceptionr LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Black Hills Corporation (NYSE:BKH) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 12,650 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $710,000.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Black Hills in the 1st quarter worth about $43,690,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Black Hills by 59.3% during the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,045,165 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $58,634,000 after acquiring an additional 388,936 shares during the last quarter. McElhenny Sheffield Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Black Hills during the second quarter worth approximately $13,464,000. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC raised its position in Black Hills by 551.4% during the first quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 242,668 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $14,718,000 after purchasing an additional 205,414 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in Black Hills by 294.8% during the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 262,011 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $14,699,000 after purchasing an additional 195,640 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.71% of the company’s stock.

Black Hills Price Performance

BKH opened at $72.89 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $64.94 and a 200 day moving average of $60.51. The stock has a market cap of $5.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.36, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. Black Hills Corporation has a 52-week low of $54.92 and a 52-week high of $73.02.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.45. The business had revenue of $430.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $439.96 million. Black Hills had a return on equity of 7.81% and a net margin of 12.68%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.35 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Black Hills Corporation will post 4.12 EPS for the current year.

Black Hills Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.676 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 17th. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.7%. Black Hills’s dividend payout ratio is 68.18%.

Insider Activity at Black Hills

In related news, CFO Kimberly F. Nooney sold 14,500 shares of Black Hills stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total value of $1,025,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 34,621 shares in the company, valued at $2,447,704.70. This trade represents a 29.52% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.63% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Bank of America upgraded Black Hills from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $57.00 to $64.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. Scotiabank raised shares of Black Hills from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $66.00 to $81.00 in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Black Hills in a research note on Tuesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $71.00.

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.