Comerica Bank Lowers Holdings in Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH)

Comerica Bank reduced its stake in Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) by 8.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 32,735 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 3,061 shares during the period. Comerica Bank’s holdings in Black Hills were worth $1,916,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Barclays PLC increased its stake in Black Hills by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 500,826 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,610,000 after purchasing an additional 21,697 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co grew its holdings in shares of Black Hills by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 12,161 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $712,000 after buying an additional 922 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Black Hills by 4,751.1% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 16,154 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $945,000 after acquiring an additional 15,821 shares in the last quarter. Code Waechter LLC raised its holdings in Black Hills by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. Code Waechter LLC now owns 7,102 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $416,000 after acquiring an additional 515 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Black Hills by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 47,147 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,759,000 after acquiring an additional 2,500 shares in the last quarter. 86.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Black Hills Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of Black Hills stock opened at $58.49 on Friday. Black Hills Co. has a twelve month low of $51.66 and a twelve month high of $65.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The company’s 50 day moving average is $59.87 and its 200 day moving average is $59.93. The company has a market cap of $4.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.74.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.92 by ($0.05). Black Hills had a net margin of 12.84% and a return on equity of 7.82%. The firm had revenue of $805.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $729.73 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.87 earnings per share. Black Hills’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Black Hills Co. will post 4.12 EPS for the current year.

Black Hills Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.676 per share. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.62%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Black Hills’s payout ratio is currently 68.88%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Scotiabank reduced their target price on 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.