Great Lakes Advisors LLC Buys New Holdings in Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH)

Great Lakes Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 179,258 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $10,490,000. Great Lakes Advisors LLC owned 0.25% of Black Hills at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BKH. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in Black Hills by 19.3% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 210,768 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $12,882,000 after acquiring an additional 34,129 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Black Hills by 4,751.1% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 16,154 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $945,000 after purchasing an additional 15,821 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Black Hills by 19.3% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 102,335 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $6,257,000 after buying an additional 16,522 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Black Hills by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,663,157 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $101,671,000 after buying an additional 33,853 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC increased its stake 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 buying an additional 20,425 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.71% of the company's stock.

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Black Hills Price Performance

BKH traded up $1.77 during trading on Friday, reaching $61.07. The company's stock had a trading volume of 229,676 shares, compared to its average volume of 480,396. The company has a market cap of $4.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.57, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.68. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $58.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $60.02. Black Hills Co. has a 1 year low of $50.72 and a 1 year high of $65.59. 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 (NYSE:BKH - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Black Hills Co. will post 4.12 EPS for the current year.

Black Hills Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $0.676 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This is an increase from Black Hills's previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.43%. Black Hills's payout ratio is 68.88%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Scotiabank lowered their price target on Black Hills from $67.00 to $66.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th.

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.