Gabelli Funds LLC Lowers Holdings in Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH)

Gabelli Funds LLC lowered its position in Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) by 0.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 459,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,100 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC owned about 0.67% of Black Hills worth $25,061,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Financial Advocates Investment Management boosted its position in shares of Black Hills by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 4,988 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $269,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Uncommon Cents Investing LLC grew its position in Black Hills by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Uncommon Cents Investing LLC now owns 10,710 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $585,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its position in Black Hills by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 85,382 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,662,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Black Hills by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 8,188 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $442,000 after acquiring an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its holdings in shares of Black Hills by 56.3% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 650 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 234 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Black Hills

In other Black Hills news, Director Rebecca B. Roberts sold 3,094 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.84, for a total transaction of $169,674.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,956 shares in the company, valued at $436,307.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Black Hills Price Performance

BKH stock traded up $0.52 during trading on Friday, hitting $58.79. The company had a trading volume of 309,824 shares, compared to its average volume of 408,178. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The business has a 50 day moving average of $55.09 and a 200 day moving average of $53.79. Black Hills Co. has a fifty-two week low of $46.43 and a fifty-two week high of $61.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.48 and a beta of 0.69.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.70 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $726.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $683.00 million. Black Hills had a return on equity of 8.37% and a net margin of 12.92%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 21.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.73 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Black Hills Co. will post 3.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Black Hills Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 19th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.42%. Black Hills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.04%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BKH has been the topic of several analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Black Hills from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 9th. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on shares of Black Hills from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Black Hills from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Black Hills from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Black Hills presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.60.

Black Hills Company 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.