New York State Teachers Retirement System Decreases Stake in Black Hills Corporation (NYSE:BKH)

New York State Teachers Retirement System lowered its stake in shares of Black Hills Corporation (NYSE:BKH - Free Report) by 16.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 73,390 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 14,000 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned about 0.10% of Black Hills worth $4,451,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Black Hills by 66.8% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 432 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Black Hills by 182.8% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 461 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 298 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Black Hills by 59.2% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 605 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 225 shares during the period. Quarry LP increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 719 shares during the period. Finally, Byrne Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Black Hills by 238.0% in the 1st quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 845 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 595 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.71% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Black Hills Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BKH traded up $0.77 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $57.53. 643,303 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 470,894. Black Hills Corporation has a twelve month low of $53.73 and a twelve month high of $65.59. The firm has a market cap of $4.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.68, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $57.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $58.72.

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

Black Hills Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th were given a dividend of $0.676 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.70%. Black Hills's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.