Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) Short Interest Down 11.5% in February

Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,610,000 shares, a decrease of 11.5% from the January 31st total of 1,820,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 467,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.4 days.

Black Hills Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of Black Hills stock traded up $0.64 on Friday, hitting $60.09. The company had a trading volume of 622,361 shares, compared to its average volume of 480,908. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.68. Black Hills has a 1 year low of $50.72 and a 1 year high of $65.59. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $58.87 and a 200-day moving average of $59.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.97.

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, topping 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Black Hills will post 4.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Black Hills Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $0.676 per share. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.50%. This is an increase from Black Hills's previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Black Hills's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.88%.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Scotiabank lowered their price objective 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.

Institutional Trading of Black Hills

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BKH. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Black Hills by 20.4% during the third quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,569 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $340,000 after acquiring an additional 944 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its position in shares of Black Hills by 7.4% during the third quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 7,892 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $482,000 after acquiring an additional 545 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Black Hills during the third quarter valued at approximately $201,000. US Bancorp DE increased its position in shares of Black Hills by 12.0% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 12,443 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $761,000 after acquiring an additional 1,330 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of Black Hills by 7.3% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 18,855 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,151,000 after acquiring an additional 1,282 shares during the last quarter. 86.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Black Hills

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.