Versor Investments LP Invests $449,000 in Black Hills Corporation $BKH

Key Points

• Versor Investments LP has acquired a new position in Black Hills Corporation, purchasing 7,402 shares valued at approximately $449,000 during the first quarter.
• A recent analysis from BMO Capital Markets has given Black Hills an "outperform" rating with a target price of $68.00, while Bank of America has upgraded its rating from "underperform" to "neutral" with a target price of $64.00.
• Black Hills Corporation recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.676 per share, which translates to an annualized yield of 4.5% and a dividend payout ratio of 68.01%.

Versor Investments LP purchased a new stake in Black Hills Corporation (NYSE:BKH - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 7,402 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $449,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Black Hills by 1.9% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 215,402 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $13,064,000 after buying an additional 4,077 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in Black Hills by 15.9% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,918 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $480,000 after purchasing an additional 1,087 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in Black Hills by 215.5% during the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,647 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $100,000 after purchasing an additional 1,125 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Black Hills by 59.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 605 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new position in Black Hills during the fourth quarter worth approximately $96,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.71% of the company's stock.

Black Hills Stock Down 1.1%

BKH traded down $0.6540 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $60.3860. 241,035 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 544,141. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $57.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $58.83. The company has a market cap of $4.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.22, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.71. Black Hills Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $54.92 and a fifty-two week high of $65.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.49.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.38. The business had revenue of $439.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $412.69 million. Black Hills had a net margin of 12.68% and a return on equity of 7.81%. The business's revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.33 EPS. Black Hills has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.000-4.200 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Black Hills Corporation will post 4.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Black Hills Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.676 per share. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. Black Hills's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.01%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on BKH shares. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Black Hills in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $68.00 price target for the company. Bank of America raised shares of Black Hills from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $57.00 to $64.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Black Hills presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $66.00.

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.