Barclays PLC Lowers Stock Position in Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH)

Barclays PLC reduced its stake in shares of Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH - Free Report) by 57.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 213,476 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 287,350 shares during the period. Barclays PLC owned approximately 0.30% of Black Hills worth $12,493,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings 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 last quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Black Hills in the 4th quarter valued at about $10,490,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Black Hills during the 4th quarter valued at about $8,413,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Black Hills by 34.9% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 551,414 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $32,269,000 after acquiring an additional 142,537 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Black Hills by 19.3% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 551,582 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $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 Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Scotiabank cut their price objective 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 Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE:BKH traded down $0.32 on Friday, reaching $60.23. The stock had a trading volume of 284,241 shares, compared to its average volume of 456,431. The company has a market cap of $4.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.64. Black Hills Co. has a 12-month low of $51.66 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 firm's fifty day moving average is $59.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $59.92.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.17. Black Hills had a net margin of 12.84% and a return on equity of 7.82%. Equities analysts expect that Black Hills Co. will post 4.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Black Hills Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders 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 yield of 4.49%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Black Hills's payout ratio is 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.