Bank of America Corp DE Purchases 340,686 Shares of Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH)

Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in shares of Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH - Free Report) by 203.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 507,986 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 340,686 shares during the quarter. Bank of America Corp DE owned about 0.71% of Black Hills worth $29,727,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Black Hills during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,113,000. WCM Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Black Hills by 200.7% in the 4th quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 70,783 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $4,133,000 after acquiring an additional 47,244 shares in the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc increased its stake in shares of Black Hills by 43.1% in the 4th quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 8,407 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $492,000 after acquiring an additional 2,533 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of Black Hills by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 20,862 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,221,000 after acquiring an additional 2,007 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its stake in shares of Black Hills by 17.5% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 65,199 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,815,000 after acquiring an additional 9,725 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.71% of the company's stock.

Black Hills Stock Performance

Shares of BKH stock opened at $58.50 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.24 billion, a PE ratio of 14.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.74. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $59.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $59.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. Black Hills Co. has a 12 month low of $51.66 and a 12 month high of $65.59.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.92 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $805.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $729.73 million. Black Hills had a net margin of 12.84% and a return on equity of 7.82%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.87 EPS. Analysts forecast that Black Hills Co. will post 4.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Black Hills Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.676 per share. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Black Hills's dividend payout ratio is 68.88%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BKH. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of Black Hills from $67.00 to $66.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Black Hills in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $68.00 price objective for the company.

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.

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