Inspire Advisors LLC Purchases 13,885 Shares of Black Hills Corporation (NYSE:BKH)

Key Points

• Inspire Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Black Hills Corporation by 39.0% during Q1, acquiring an additional 13,885 shares and owning 49,448 shares valued at approximately $2.99 million.
• Several hedge funds made significant investments in Black Hills, with 86.71% of the company's stock now owned by institutional investors.
• BMO Capital Markets has initiated coverage on Black Hills with an "outperform" rating and a target price of $68.00 per share.

Inspire Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Black Hills Corporation (NYSE:BKH - Free Report) by 39.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 49,448 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 13,885 shares during the period. Inspire Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.07% of Black Hills worth $2,999,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Black Hills by 309.5% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 953,431 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $55,795,000 after purchasing an additional 720,628 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in shares of Black Hills by 203.6% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 507,986 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $29,727,000 after acquiring an additional 340,686 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Black Hills by 21.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 1,845,088 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $107,975,000 after acquiring an additional 326,959 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Black Hills by 113.6% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 463,459 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $27,122,000 after acquiring an additional 246,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Black Hills by 38,974.6% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 218,818 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $13,272,000 after acquiring an additional 218,258 shares in the last quarter. 86.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Black Hills Trading Up 1.1%

NYSE:BKH traded up $0.61 on Wednesday, hitting $57.14. 239,371 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 504,448. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.70. Black Hills Corporation has a 52 week low of $54.92 and a 52 week high of $65.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.76. The company's 50-day moving average price is $57.03 and its 200 day moving average price is $58.65.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.92 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $805.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $729.73 million. Black Hills had a net margin of 12.67% and a return on equity of 7.83%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.87 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Black Hills Corporation will post 4.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Black Hills Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 4.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. Black Hills's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.88%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Black Hills in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $68.00 target price on the stock.

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.