Summit Global Investments Acquires New Position in Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH)

Summit Global Investments bought a new stake in Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 11,547 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $676,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS increased its position in shares of Black Hills by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 132,754 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $7,769,000 after acquiring an additional 2,704 shares in the last quarter. Xponance Inc. raised its stake in shares of Black Hills by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 10,030 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $587,000 after buying an additional 660 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Black Hills by 106.7% during the fourth quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 27,261 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,595,000 after purchasing an additional 14,072 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp purchased a new stake in Black Hills in the 4th quarter worth $384,000. Finally, Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV raised its stake in Black Hills by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 15,323 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $897,000 after purchasing an additional 571 shares during the period. 86.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Black Hills Stock Performance

Black Hills stock traded up $0.14 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $59.62. The company had a trading volume of 307,993 shares, compared to its average volume of 419,217. 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 Co. has a 12-month low of $50.73 and a 12-month high of $65.59. The company's fifty day moving average is $59.64 and its 200-day moving average is $60.08. The company has a market capitalization of $4.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.68.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. Equities research analysts predict that Black Hills Co. will post 4.12 EPS for the current year.

Black Hills Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $0.676 dividend. This is a positive change from Black Hills's previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.54%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Black Hills's dividend payout ratio is currently 68.88%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Scotiabank lowered 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 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.