Navellier & Associates Inc. Makes New $591,000 Investment in Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH)

Navellier & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 10,104 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $591,000.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in Black Hills by 19.3% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 210,768 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $12,882,000 after purchasing an additional 34,129 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Black Hills by 4,751.1% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 16,154 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $945,000 after purchasing an additional 15,821 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its position in Black Hills by 19.3% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 102,335 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,257,000 after purchasing an additional 16,522 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in Black Hills in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,807,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Black Hills by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,663,157 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $101,671,000 after purchasing an additional 33,853 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.71% of the company’s stock.

Black Hills Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of BKH opened at $59.65 on Friday. Black Hills Co. has a 52-week low of $50.72 and a 52-week high of $65.59. The company has a market capitalization of $4.27 billion, a PE ratio of 15.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.73. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $58.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $59.76. 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 (NYSE:BKH) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.37 earnings per share (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%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Black Hills Co. will post 4.12 EPS for the current year.

Black Hills Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a dividend of $0.676 per share. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.53%. This is an increase from Black Hills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. Black Hills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.88%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Scotiabank decreased their target price on Black Hills from $67.00 to $66.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th.

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.