Raymond James Financial Inc. Buys Shares of 143,772 Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH)

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 143,772 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $8,413,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned 0.20% of Black Hills as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of BKH. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Black Hills by 109.8% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 882,646 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $53,356,000 after acquiring an additional 461,894 shares during the last quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Black Hills in the 4th quarter valued at about $10,490,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Black Hills by 34.9% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 551,414 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $32,269,000 after acquiring an additional 142,537 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Black Hills by 19.3% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 551,582 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $32,279,000 after acquiring an additional 89,181 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in Black Hills by 1,579.6% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 84,634 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $4,953,000 after acquiring an additional 79,595 shares during the last quarter. 86.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Black Hills Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:BKH traded up $0.62 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $60.85. The stock had a trading volume of 347,403 shares, compared to its average volume of 455,979. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.97. The company has a market cap of $4.39 billion, a PE ratio of 15.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.64. Black Hills Co. has a 12-month low of $51.66 and a 12-month high of $65.59. The company's 50 day moving average is $59.80 and its 200-day moving average is $59.94.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Black Hills Co. will post 4.12 EPS for the current year.

Black Hills Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a $0.676 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.44%. Black Hills's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.88%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Scotiabank cut their price target 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.

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.