KBC Group NV Acquires 10,827 Shares of Black Hills Corporation (NYSE:BKH)

KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of Black Hills Corporation (NYSE:BKH - Free Report) by 400.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 13,534 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 10,827 shares during the period. KBC Group NV's holdings in Black Hills were worth $821,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake in Black Hills by 38,974.6% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 218,818 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $13,272,000 after purchasing an additional 218,258 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Black Hills by 1.1% in the first quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 30,354 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,841,000 after purchasing an additional 334 shares during the period. Uncommon Cents Investing LLC grew its stake in Black Hills by 4.7% in the first quarter. Uncommon Cents Investing LLC now owns 11,055 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $670,000 after purchasing an additional 495 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Black Hills by 1.3% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 46,708 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,833,000 after purchasing an additional 593 shares during the period. Finally, Alta Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Black Hills by 9.7% in the first quarter. Alta Capital Management LLC now owns 55,715 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,379,000 after purchasing an additional 4,910 shares during the period. 86.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, BMO Capital Markets began 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 Stock Down 0.9%

Black Hills stock traded down $0.49 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $56.42. The company had a trading volume of 528,041 shares, compared to its average volume of 468,500. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $57.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $58.75. Black Hills Corporation has a 12 month low of $53.22 and a 12 month high of $65.59. The company has a market capitalization of $4.09 billion, a PE ratio of 14.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.70.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.92 by ($0.05). Black Hills had a return on equity of 7.83% and a net margin of 12.67%. The company had revenue of $805.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $729.73 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.87 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Black Hills Corporation will post 4.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Black Hills Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th were issued a dividend of $0.676 per share. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 16th. Black Hills's payout ratio is currently 68.88%.

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.