Short Interest in Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) Decreases By 7.6%

Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,900,000 shares, a decrease of 7.6% from the March 15th total of 3,140,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 573,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.1 days.

Black Hills Stock Performance

Black Hills stock traded up $0.57 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $51.77. The company had a trading volume of 137,202 shares, compared to its average volume of 549,464. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. Black Hills has a 52 week low of $46.43 and a 52 week high of $66.85. The company has a 50 day moving average of $52.58 and a 200-day moving average of $52.00. The firm has a market cap of $3.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.06 and a beta of 0.64.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.11. Black Hills had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 8.09%. The firm had revenue of $591.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $863.67 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.11 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Black Hills will post 3.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Black Hills Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 16th were issued a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. This is an increase from Black Hills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.02%. Black Hills’s dividend payout ratio is 66.33%.

Institutional Trading of Black Hills

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BKH. State Street Corp raised its stake in Black Hills by 16.1% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,059,252 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $466,684,000 after acquiring an additional 838,590 shares in the last quarter. Zimmer Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of Black Hills during the 2nd quarter worth about $39,326,000. Capital Research Global Investors bought a new position in Black Hills during the 1st quarter valued at about $45,758,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Black Hills by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,143,567 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $439,345,000 after purchasing an additional 322,271 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Macquarie Group Ltd. boosted its position in Black Hills by 14.6% in the second quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 2,502,209 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $182,085,000 after buying an additional 318,024 shares in the last quarter. 86.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on BKH shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Black Hills from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Black Hills from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $55.80.

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.