Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its position in Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) by 28.4% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 203,554 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 80,699 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Black Hills were worth $12,441,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of BKH. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position 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 valued at $447,927,000 after buying an additional 60,219 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 275,994 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Black Hills by 8.8% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 978,497 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $53,210,000 after acquiring an additional 78,958 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Black Hills by 0.4% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 949,278 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $51,622,000 after acquiring an additional 3,544 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Black Hills by 54.5% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 481,415 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,179,000 after purchasing an additional 169,827 shares during the last quarter. 86.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Black Hills Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BKH opened at $62.74 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.49 billion, a PE ratio of 16.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.56 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 1.12. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $60.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $57.77. Black Hills Co. has a 1 year low of $49.33 and a 1 year high of $63.60.

Black Hills Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.14%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. Black Hills’s payout ratio is currently 69.89%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BKH has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Black Hills from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Black Hills from $54.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Black Hills presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $58.00.

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.