Black Hills Corporation $BKH Shares Bought by Vanguard Group Inc.

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Black Hills Corporation by 0.4%, owning approximately 12% of the company, valued at around $523.7 million.
• Several other institutional investors also boosted their positions in Black Hills, with notable increases from Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services and Farther Finance Advisors.
• BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage of Black Hills with an "outperform" rating and a price target of $68.00.

Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Black Hills Corporation (NYSE:BKH - Free Report) by 0.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,634,076 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 31,853 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 11.98% of Black Hills worth $523,657,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of BKH. IMA Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Black Hills during the first quarter valued at $30,000. Clearstead Trust LLC acquired a new position in Black Hills in the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Black Hills by 59.2% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 605 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP boosted its position in Black Hills by 1,159.7% in the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 781 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 719 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Byrne Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Black Hills by 238.0% during the 1st quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 845 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 595 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.71% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, BMO Capital Markets began 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 on the stock.

Black Hills Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BKH traded up $0.81 on Tuesday, reaching $61.16. The company's stock had a trading volume of 354,332 shares, compared to its average volume of 530,612. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.39, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.49. The stock's 50-day moving average is $57.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $58.81. Black Hills Corporation has a 52-week low of $54.92 and a 52-week high of $65.59.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.38. The business had revenue of $439.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 for the quarter was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.33 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Black Hills Corporation will post 4.12 EPS for the current year.

Black Hills Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th will be given a $0.676 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.4%. Black Hills's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.01%.

Black Hills Company 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.