Black Hills Corporation $BKH Shares Sold by SG Americas Securities LLC

SG Americas Securities LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Black Hills Corporation (NYSE:BKH) by 98.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,605 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 258,406 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Black Hills were worth $222,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Black Hills by 37.8% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 641 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its stake in Black Hills by 2.5% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 9,068 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $509,000 after buying an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Black Hills by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $410,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP grew its position in shares of Black Hills by 13.6% in the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,206 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $124,000 after acquiring an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. grew its position in shares of Black Hills by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 7,195 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $404,000 after acquiring an additional 279 shares in the last quarter. 86.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BKH has been the topic of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Black Hills from $70.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Black Hills in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Scotiabank raised shares of Black Hills from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $66.00 to $81.00 in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $75.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Black Hills

In related news, CFO Kimberly F. Nooney sold 14,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 34,621 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,447,704.70. This represents a 29.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.63% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Black Hills Stock Down 1.9%

BKH stock opened at $72.20 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $5.26 billion, a PE ratio of 18.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.75. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $71.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $64.75. Black Hills Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $54.92 and a fifty-two week high of $74.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.45. The firm had revenue of $430.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $439.96 million. Black Hills had a net margin of 12.54% and a return on equity of 7.86%. Black Hills’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.35 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Black Hills Corporation will post 4.12 EPS for the current year.

Black Hills Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.703 per share. This represents a $2.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. This is a positive change from Black Hills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 17th. Black Hills’s dividend payout ratio is 68.18%.

About Black Hills

Black Hills Corporation is a diversified energy company based in Rapid City, South Dakota, that provides electricity and natural gas distribution services to residential, commercial and industrial customers. Through its regulated utility subsidiaries—Black Hills Power, Cheyenne Light & Power, and Black Hills Energy—the company delivers reliable energy across Colorado, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wyoming.

In addition to its distribution operations, Black Hills owns and operates a generation portfolio that includes natural gas–fired plants, coal-fired units, hydroelectric facilities and wind projects.