Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC Invests $235,000 in Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH)

Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 4,304 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $235,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new position in Black Hills during the first quarter worth about $83,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Black Hills by 15.2% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 44,777 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,445,000 after acquiring an additional 5,906 shares during the last quarter. DC Investments Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Black Hills in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,007,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Black Hills by 3,428.3% in the 1st quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 2,117 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $116,000 after acquiring an additional 2,057 shares during the period. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Black Hills by 31.9% in the 1st quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 1,641 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $90,000 after acquiring an additional 397 shares during the period. 86.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on BKH. StockNews.com raised shares of Black Hills from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of Black Hills from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Black Hills from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Black Hills from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $55.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Rebecca B. Roberts sold 3,094 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.84, for a total value of $169,674.96. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,956 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $436,307.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Black Hills Stock Performance

NYSE:BKH traded up $0.05 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $58.37. 45,819 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 489,078. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.36 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a 50-day moving average of $55.12 and a 200 day moving average of $53.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. Black Hills Co. has a 1-year low of $46.43 and a 1-year high of $61.01.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.70 by $0.17. Black Hills had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 8.37%. The company had revenue of $726.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $683.00 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.73 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 21.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Black Hills Co. will post 3.92 EPS for the current year.

Black Hills Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 19th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.45%. Black Hills’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.04%.

About Black Hills

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.