Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 3,210,000 shares, an increase of 7.7% from the April 15th total of 2,980,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 539,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.9 days.

Black Hills Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of BKH traded up $0.70 on Thursday, reaching $56.93. The stock had a trading volume of 459,250 shares, compared to its average volume of 536,136. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $54.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $52.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.01 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.73. Black Hills has a 12-month low of $46.43 and a 12-month high of $64.47.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.17. Black Hills had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 8.37%. The business had revenue of $726.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $683.00 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.73 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down 21.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Black Hills will post 3.9 EPS for the current year.

Black Hills Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. Black Hills's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.04%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Black Hills

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Black Hills by 3.7% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,821,296 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $395,679,000 after purchasing an additional 279,987 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Black Hills during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,752,000. Versor Investments LP boosted its position in shares of Black Hills by 227.3% during the fourth quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 31,425 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,695,000 after buying an additional 21,825 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co increased its stake in Black Hills by 246.0% during the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 40,501 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,185,000 after purchasing an additional 28,797 shares during the period. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Black Hills by 57.0% during the third quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 159,190 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $8,053,000 after acquiring an additional 57,820 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.71% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of Black Hills from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Black Hills from $61.00 to $57.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 9th. StockNews.com raised Black Hills from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Black Hills from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have issued a hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $54.80.

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.