Franklin Resources Inc. Has $52.51 Million Stock Holdings in Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH)

Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH - Free Report) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 897,245 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 14,599 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 1.25% of Black Hills worth $52,507,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Black Hills by 4,751.1% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 16,154 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $945,000 after buying an additional 15,821 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Black Hills by 19.3% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 102,335 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $6,257,000 after acquiring an additional 16,522 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Black Hills by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,663,157 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $101,671,000 after purchasing an additional 33,853 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC raised its holdings in Black Hills by 264.8% during the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 28,139 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,720,000 after purchasing an additional 20,425 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Black Hills by 16.0% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 408,877 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $24,991,000 after purchasing an additional 56,440 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.71% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Scotiabank decreased 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 report on Friday, February 7th.

Black Hills Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of Black Hills stock traded down $0.53 on Thursday, reaching $57.46. 90,518 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 455,655. The company has a market capitalization of $4.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.64. Black Hills Co. has a 52 week low of $50.73 and a 52 week high of $65.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.97. The firm's 50-day moving average is $59.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $59.96.

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

Black Hills Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $0.676 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.71%. This is a positive change from Black Hills's previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Black Hills's dividend payout ratio is presently 68.88%.

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.