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

Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 5,732 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $335,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Zimmer Partners LP acquired a new stake in Black Hills in the third quarter valued at approximately $96,374,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Black Hills by 109.8% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 882,646 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $53,356,000 after purchasing an additional 461,894 shares in the last quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Black Hills during the 4th quarter worth $10,490,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Black Hills in the 4th quarter worth $8,413,000. Finally, Invenomic Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Black Hills in the 3rd quarter valued at about $8,260,000. 86.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Black Hills Price Performance

Shares of BKH stock opened at $59.62 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $59.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $60.08. The firm has a market cap of $4.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.68. Black Hills Co. has a 1-year low of $50.73 and a 1-year high of $65.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.77.

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%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Black Hills Co. will post 4.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Black Hills Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $0.676 dividend. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This is an increase from Black Hills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Black Hills’s payout ratio is currently 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.