Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) Shares Sold by Magellan Asset Management Ltd

Magellan Asset Management Ltd lessened its stake in Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH - Free Report) by 17.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 48,356 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 10,533 shares during the period. Magellan Asset Management Ltd owned approximately 0.07% of Black Hills worth $2,830,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BKH. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Black Hills by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,602,223 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $503,402,000 after purchasing an additional 37,790 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Black Hills by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,698,234 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $99,402,000 after acquiring an additional 35,077 shares in the last quarter. Zimmer Partners LP bought a new stake in Black Hills during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $96,374,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Black Hills by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,225,653 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $71,725,000 after purchasing an additional 39,369 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Black Hills by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 897,245 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $52,507,000 after purchasing an additional 14,599 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.71% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Scotiabank cut their price target on 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 Price Performance

Shares of BKH stock traded up $0.91 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $57.60. 139,637 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 489,440. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. Black Hills Co. has a 52-week low of $50.72 and a 52-week high of $65.59. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $59.80 and a 200 day moving average of $60.04. The company has a market cap of $4.15 billion, a PE ratio of 14.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.64.

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

Black Hills Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $0.676 dividend. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.69%. This is a boost from Black Hills's previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Black Hills's payout ratio is presently 68.88%.

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.