Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) Short Interest Down 7.6% in March

Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in 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 trading volume of 573,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.1 days.

Black Hills Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of Black Hills stock traded down $0.81 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $51.19. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 377,370 shares, compared to its average volume of 555,180. Black Hills has a 52-week low of $46.43 and a 52-week high of $66.85. The company has a market cap of $3.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.06 and a beta of 0.64. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $52.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $52.00. 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 (NYSE:BKH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $591.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $863.67 million. Black Hills had a net margin of 11.25% and a return on equity of 8.09%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.11 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Black Hills will post 3.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Black Hills Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 16th were paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This is a positive change from Black Hills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.08%. Black Hills’s payout ratio is presently 66.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Black Hills from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. 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 on the stock in a report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Black Hills from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.80.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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

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.