Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) Short Interest Update

Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 1,930,000 shares, an increase of 19.9% from the February 13th total of 1,610,000 shares. Approximately 2.7% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 484,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.0 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of 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.

Black Hills Trading Down 2.1 %

BKH stock traded down $1.25 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $59.15. The stock had a trading volume of 1,344,016 shares, compared to its average volume of 420,326. The firm has a market cap of $4.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. Black Hills has a 1-year low of $50.73 and a 1-year high of $65.59. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $59.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $60.09.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.37 earnings per share 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, sell-side analysts predict that Black Hills will post 4.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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Black Hills Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a dividend of $0.676 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.57%. This is a positive change from Black Hills's previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Black Hills's dividend payout ratio is currently 68.88%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Black Hills

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Black Hills by 22.7% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,831 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $400,000 after purchasing an additional 1,262 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of Black Hills during the 4th quarter valued at $96,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Black Hills by 179.4% during the 4th quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,696 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $99,000 after purchasing an additional 1,089 shares during the last quarter. CSS LLC IL grew its holdings in shares of Black Hills by 15.4% during the 4th quarter. CSS LLC IL now owns 10,808 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $632,000 after purchasing an additional 1,439 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in Black Hills by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 127,341 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $7,452,000 after acquiring an additional 2,504 shares during the last quarter. 86.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Black Hills Company 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.