Riverwater Partners LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH)

Riverwater Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) by 42.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 41,581 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,413 shares during the quarter. Black Hills makes up approximately 1.2% of Riverwater Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Riverwater Partners LLC’s holdings in Black Hills were worth $2,433,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Smith Moore & CO. grew its position in shares of Black Hills by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Smith Moore & CO. now owns 14,032 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $821,000 after purchasing an additional 590 shares during the period. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Black Hills in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,946,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Black Hills by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,698,234 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $99,402,000 after acquiring an additional 35,077 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Black Hills by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 897,245 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $52,507,000 after acquiring an additional 14,599 shares during the period. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Black Hills by 17.5% in the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 11,615 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $680,000 after acquiring an additional 1,732 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.71% of the company’s stock.

Black Hills Stock Performance

Shares of BKH opened at $58.33 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $4.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.88, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.64. 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $59.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $60.09. Black Hills Co. has a 52-week low of $50.73 and a 52-week high of $65.59.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.17. Black Hills had a return on equity of 7.82% and a net margin of 12.84%. Analysts forecast that Black Hills Co. will post 4.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Black Hills Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a dividend of $0.676 per share. This is an increase from Black Hills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.64%. Black Hills’s payout ratio is 68.88%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of Black Hills from $67.00 to $66.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th.

Black Hills 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.