South Dakota Investment Council Purchases 5,400 Shares of Black Hills Corporation (NYSE:BKH)

South Dakota Investment Council lifted its position in shares of Black Hills Corporation (NYSE:BKH - Free Report) by 7.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 77,175 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 5,400 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council owned 0.11% of Black Hills worth $4,681,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Black Hills by 59.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 605 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP lifted its stake in Black Hills by 1,159.7% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 781 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 719 shares in the last quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Black Hills by 238.0% during the first quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 845 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 595 shares in the last quarter. City State Bank purchased a new stake in Black Hills during the first quarter valued at about $61,000. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Black Hills during the fourth quarter valued at about $71,000. Institutional investors own 86.71% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Black Hills Stock Down 1.8%

NYSE:BKH traded down $1.07 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $56.93. 257,783 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 477,181. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The stock has a market cap of $4.13 billion, a PE ratio of 14.49, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.70. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $57.24 and a 200 day moving average of $58.64. Black Hills Corporation has a twelve month low of $54.92 and a twelve month high of $65.59.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH - Get Free Report) last issued its 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 business had revenue of $805.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $729.73 million. Black Hills had a return on equity of 7.83% and a net margin of 12.67%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.87 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Black Hills Corporation will post 4.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Black Hills Announces Dividend

The company 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. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.75%. Black Hills's payout ratio is 68.88%.

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.