AQR Capital Management LLC Has $51.15 Million Stock Position in Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH)

AQR Capital Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH - Free Report) by 15.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 873,975 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 157,988 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC owned 1.22% of Black Hills worth $51,145,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Black Hills by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,602,223 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $503,402,000 after purchasing an additional 37,790 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Black Hills by 21.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 1,845,088 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $107,975,000 after buying an additional 326,959 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Black Hills by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,698,234 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $99,402,000 after acquiring an additional 35,077 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Black Hills by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,225,653 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $71,725,000 after acquiring an additional 39,369 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Black Hills by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,037,622 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $60,721,000 after acquiring an additional 37,487 shares during the period. 86.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Black Hills Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BKH traded up $0.12 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $61.62. 78,027 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 449,205. The company has a market capitalization of $4.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.97. Black Hills Co. has a 1-year low of $51.66 and a 1-year high of $65.59. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $59.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $59.94.

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

Black Hills Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $0.676 dividend. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Black Hills's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.88%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Scotiabank decreased their price target on shares of Black Hills from $67.00 to $66.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th.

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.