Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) Shares Bought by First Trust Advisors LP

First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH - Free Report) by 309.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 953,431 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 720,628 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 1.33% of Black Hills worth $55,795,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC grew its stake in Black Hills by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 500,826 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $30,610,000 after acquiring an additional 21,697 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Black Hills in the third quarter valued at $1,185,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Black Hills by 109.8% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 882,646 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $53,356,000 after purchasing an additional 461,894 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Black Hills by 16.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 408,877 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $24,991,000 after purchasing an additional 56,440 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in Black Hills by 181.5% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 473 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 305 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.71% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of Black Hills from $67.00 to $66.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th.

Black Hills Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE BKH opened at $60.70 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.38 billion, a PE ratio of 15.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.64. 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 firm has a fifty day moving average of $59.71 and a 200-day moving average of $59.90. Black Hills Co. has a 52-week low of $51.66 and a 52-week high of $65.59.

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

Black Hills Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a $0.676 dividend. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.45%. Black Hills's payout ratio is 68.88%.

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.

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