Black Hills Corporation $BKH Shares Sold by Alps Advisors Inc.

Key Points

• Alps Advisors cut its Black Hills stake by 23.6% in the third quarter, selling 12,719 shares and ending the period with 41,183 shares valued at about $2.89 million.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook: Black Hills has a consensus “Buy” rating and an average target price of $85, with recent targets including $97 from Bank of America.
• Black Hills beat quarterly EPS estimates, reporting $0.57 per share versus $0.47 expected, while revenue rose 8.3% year over year. It also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.703 per share, equivalent to a 3.3% yield.

Alps Advisors Inc. decreased its position in Black Hills Corporation (NYSE:BKH - Free Report) by 23.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 41,183 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 12,719 shares during the period. Alps Advisors Inc. owned 0.05% of Black Hills worth $2,886,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kestra Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Black Hills by 8.3% during the third quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,594 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $462,000 after buying an additional 503 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Black Hills by 57.0% in the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 15,586 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,092,000 after acquiring an additional 5,656 shares during the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Black Hills in the 3rd quarter valued at about $45,000. Vise Technologies Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Black Hills in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $464,000. Finally, Choreo LLC raised its position in shares of Black Hills by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 11,256 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $789,000 after acquiring an additional 438 shares during the period. 86.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BKH has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Black Hills in a research note on Wednesday, October 14th. They set a "buy" rating and a $87.00 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Black Hills in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Freedom Broker lowered shares of Black Hills from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $78.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Thursday, November 5th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Black Hills from $87.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, September 21st. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Black Hills from $84.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Black Hills presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $85.00.

Black Hills Price Performance

Shares of BKH opened at $86.39 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. Black Hills Corporation has a twelve month low of $67.25 and a twelve month high of $86.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.77, a P/E/G ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a 50 day moving average of $75.36 and a 200-day moving average of $73.69.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.10. Black Hills had a net margin of 13.49% and a return on equity of 8.19%. The business had revenue of $466.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $483.04 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.45 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Black Hills Corporation will post 4.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Black Hills Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.7030 per share. This represents a $2.81 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 17th. Black Hills's dividend payout ratio is presently 67.55%.

About Black Hills

Black Hills Corporation is an energy company headquartered in Rapid City, South Dakota. Through its utility operations, it provides electric and natural gas service to communities across Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wyoming.

The company's businesses include generating, transmitting and distributing electricity, as well as distributing natural gas. Its energy operations use a mix of resources, including natural gas, coal and renewable sources, to support electric service.

Black Hills traces its history to the early 1940s, when it operated as Black Hills Power & Light Company.

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