Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) Shares Sold by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans cut its holdings in shares of Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH - Free Report) by 15.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 178,923 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 31,845 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned about 0.25% of Black Hills worth $10,470,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Black Hills by 2.1% during the third 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 period. Zimmer Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Black Hills during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $96,374,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Black Hills by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,225,653 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $71,725,000 after purchasing an additional 39,369 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Black Hills by 109.8% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 882,646 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $53,356,000 after purchasing an additional 461,894 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Black Hills by 19.3% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 551,582 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $32,279,000 after purchasing an additional 89,181 shares in the last quarter. 86.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Scotiabank dropped their target price on 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 Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of Black Hills stock traded up $0.61 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $59.43. 331,025 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 419,811. Black Hills Co. has a 12-month low of $50.73 and a 12-month high of $65.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The stock has a market cap of $4.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.68. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $59.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $60.09.

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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 forecast that Black Hills Co. will post 4.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Black Hills Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $0.676 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.55%. This is a boost from Black Hills's previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Black Hills's dividend payout ratio is currently 68.88%.

Black Hills 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.