Meeder Advisory Services Inc. Makes New Investment in Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH)

Meeder Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 6,764 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $365,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in Black Hills in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,752,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Black Hills by 3.7% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,821,296 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $395,679,000 after acquiring an additional 279,987 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co boosted its holdings in Black Hills by 246.0% in the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 40,501 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,185,000 after acquiring an additional 28,797 shares during the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its position in Black Hills by 57.0% in the third quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 159,190 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,053,000 after purchasing an additional 57,820 shares during the period. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Black Hills by 33.8% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 17,215 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $929,000 after purchasing an additional 4,345 shares during the last quarter. 86.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BKH has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Scotiabank lifted their target price 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 downgraded Black Hills from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Black Hills from $61.00 to $57.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Black Hills has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $55.80.

Black Hills Stock Performance

Shares of Black Hills stock opened at $54.40 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $52.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $51.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The company has a market capitalization of $3.71 billion, a PE ratio of 13.88 and a beta of 0.64. Black Hills Co. has a 12 month low of $46.43 and a 12 month high of $66.85.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.11. Black Hills had a return on equity of 8.09% and a net margin of 11.25%. The business 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 business posted $1.11 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Black Hills Co. will post 3.9 EPS for the current year.

Black Hills Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 16th were given a $0.65 dividend. This is a boost from Black Hills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.78%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. 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.