Alta Capital Management LLC Acquires New Position in Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH)

Alta Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 50,805 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,973,000. Alta Capital Management LLC owned 0.07% of Black Hills as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Black Hills by 66.8% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 432 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 173 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Black Hills by 181.5% during the fourth 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 during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 418 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in shares of Black Hills by 83.3% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 625 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 284 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of Black Hills during the third quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.71% of the company’s stock.

Black Hills Stock Performance

NYSE:BKH opened at $61.89 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The company has a market cap of $4.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.73. Black Hills Co. has a fifty-two week low of $50.72 and a fifty-two week high of $65.59. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $58.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $59.92.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.17. Black Hills had a net margin of 12.84% and a return on equity of 7.82%. Analysts expect that Black Hills Co. will post 4.12 EPS for the current year.

Black Hills Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $0.676 dividend. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This is an increase from Black Hills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Black Hills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.88%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Scotiabank reduced their price objective on shares of 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.

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.