Entropy Technologies LP Takes $542,000 Position in Black Hills Corporation $BKH

Key Points

• Entropy Technologies LP has acquired a new position in Black Hills Corporation, purchasing 8,937 shares valued at approximately $542,000.
• Analysts from BMO Capital Markets have initiated coverage on Black Hills, giving it an "outperform" rating and setting a price target of $68.00.
• Black Hills Corporation has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.676, with a yield of 4.4% based on an annualized basis, to be paid to stockholders in September.

Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of Black Hills Corporation (NYSE:BKH - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 8,937 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $542,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised 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 acquiring an additional 4,077 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 valued at $480,000 after acquiring an additional 1,087 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Black Hills by 215.5% during the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,647 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $100,000 after acquiring an additional 1,125 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Black Hills by 59.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 605 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in shares of Black Hills during the fourth quarter valued at about $96,000. 86.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Black Hills in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $68.00 price objective for the company.

Black Hills Trading Down 0.6%

BKH stock traded down $0.40 during trading on Monday, reaching $60.55. The company had a trading volume of 179,964 shares, compared to its average volume of 527,540. Black Hills Corporation has a 52 week low of $54.92 and a 52 week high of $65.59. The company has a market cap of $4.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.26, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.71. The business has a 50 day moving average of $57.52 and a 200 day moving average of $58.80. 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 (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.38. Black Hills had a net margin of 12.68% and a return on equity of 7.81%. The company had revenue of $439.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $412.69 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.33 earnings per share. Black Hills's revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Black Hills Corporation will post 4.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Black Hills Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th will be paid a $0.676 dividend. 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 is presently 68.01%.

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.