Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Sells 6,603 Shares of Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH)

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) by 11.7% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 50,024 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 6,603 shares during the quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in Black Hills were worth $3,034,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in Black Hills during the fourth quarter worth about $96,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Black Hills during the fourth quarter worth about $1,113,000. Atria Investments Inc grew its position in Black Hills by 43.1% during the fourth quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 8,407 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $492,000 after buying an additional 2,533 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in Black Hills by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 20,862 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,221,000 after buying an additional 2,007 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its position in Black Hills by 17.5% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 65,199 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,815,000 after buying an additional 9,725 shares in the last quarter. 86.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Black Hills in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $68.00 target price on the stock.

Black Hills Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of BKH opened at $56.74 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $4.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. Black Hills Co. has a 12 month low of $51.99 and a 12 month high of $65.59. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $58.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $59.32.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.92 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $805.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $729.73 million. Black Hills had a return on equity of 7.82% and a net margin of 12.84%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.87 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Black Hills Co. will post 4.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Black Hills Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th were paid a dividend of $0.676 per share. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 16th. Black Hills’s dividend payout ratio is 68.88%.

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.