Legal & General Group Plc Sells 5,077 Shares of Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH)

Legal & General Group Plc cut its holdings in shares of Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH - Free Report) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 380,090 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 5,077 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.53% of Black Hills worth $22,243,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Black Hills by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 831,156 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $48,639,000 after acquiring an additional 44,515 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its stake in Black Hills by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 20,119 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,177,000 after purchasing an additional 1,359 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its holdings in Black Hills by 404.9% during the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 61,709 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,611,000 after purchasing an additional 49,486 shares during the period. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd raised its stake in shares of Black Hills by 29.6% in the fourth quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 11,006 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $644,000 after buying an additional 2,515 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Black Hills by 60.2% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 54,088 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,165,000 after buying an additional 20,321 shares during the last quarter. 86.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Black Hills Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BKH traded up $0.49 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $60.52. 492,012 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 457,893. Black Hills Co. has a 12 month low of $51.66 and a 12 month high of $65.59. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $59.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $59.90. 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 market capitalization of $4.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.64.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 12.84% and a return on equity of 7.82%. On average, equities analysts expect that Black Hills Co. will post 4.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Black Hills Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $0.676 dividend. 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 4.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Black Hills's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.88%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Scotiabank lowered their price objective 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.