Virtu Financial LLC Takes $335,000 Position in Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH)

Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 5,732 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $335,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Black Hills by 176.5% during the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 13,189 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $806,000 after buying an additional 8,419 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Black Hills during the third quarter valued at approximately $219,000. Citigroup Inc. lifted its holdings in Black Hills by 87.1% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 90,093 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $5,506,000 after acquiring an additional 41,944 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in Black Hills by 9.3% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 38,943 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,380,000 after purchasing an additional 3,298 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in Black Hills by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 7,482 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $457,000 after purchasing an additional 466 shares during the period. 86.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Scotiabank lowered their target price 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.

Black Hills Stock Performance

Black Hills stock traded up $0.22 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $60.87. The stock had a trading volume of 427,523 shares, compared to its average volume of 452,193. The stock's 50 day moving average is $59.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $60.09. Black Hills Co. has a 1 year low of $50.73 and a 1 year high of $65.59. The stock has a market cap of $4.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.68. 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 posted its quarterly 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 predict that Black Hills Co. will post 4.12 EPS for the current year.

Black Hills Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a dividend of $0.676 per share. This is a boost from Black Hills's previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.44%. Black Hills's payout ratio is presently 68.88%.

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.