Virtu Financial LLC Makes New $335,000 Investment in Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH)

Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 5,732 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $335,000.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Black Hills by 2.1% during 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 during the last quarter. Zimmer Partners LP acquired a new stake in Black Hills during the third quarter worth approximately $96,374,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Black Hills by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,225,653 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $71,725,000 after acquiring an additional 39,369 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Black Hills by 109.8% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 882,646 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $53,356,000 after acquiring an additional 461,894 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Black Hills by 19.3% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 551,582 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,279,000 after purchasing an additional 89,181 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Scotiabank dropped their target price on 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 Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of BKH opened at $59.62 on Friday. Black Hills Co. has a fifty-two week low of $50.73 and a fifty-two week high of $65.59. The company’s fifty day moving average is $59.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $60.08. The firm has a market cap of $4.30 billion, a PE ratio of 15.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.68. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 earnings per share for the current year.

Black Hills Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $0.676 dividend. This is a positive change from Black Hills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.54%. Black Hills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.88%.

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.