Keeley Teton Advisors LLC Buys 24,725 Shares of Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH)

Keeley Teton Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH - Free Report) by 32.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 101,404 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 24,725 shares during the quarter. Keeley Teton Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.14% of Black Hills worth $5,934,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Black Hills by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,602,223 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $503,402,000 after acquiring an additional 37,790 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Black Hills by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,698,234 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $99,402,000 after purchasing an additional 35,077 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Black Hills by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,225,653 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $71,725,000 after buying an additional 39,369 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Black Hills by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 897,245 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $52,507,000 after buying an additional 14,599 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Black Hills by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 831,156 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $48,639,000 after acquiring an additional 44,515 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.71% of the company's stock.

Black Hills Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of Black Hills stock traded up $0.49 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $60.52. The company's stock had a trading volume of 492,012 shares, compared to its average volume of 457,306. Black Hills Co. has a 12 month low of $51.66 and a 12 month high of $65.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The company has a market capitalization of $4.36 billion, a PE ratio of 15.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.64. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $59.71 and a 200 day moving average of $59.90.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.17. Black Hills had a net margin of 12.84% and a return on equity of 7.82%. Analysts predict that Black Hills Co. will post 4.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Black Hills Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a dividend of $0.676 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This is an increase from Black Hills's previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.47%. Black Hills's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.88%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of Black Hills from $67.00 to $66.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th.

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.