Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) Short Interest Update

Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,490,000 shares, a growth of 12.2% from the October 15th total of 2,220,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 425,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.9 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on BKH. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Black Hills from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Black Hills from $54.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $58.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Zimmer Partners LP acquired a new stake in Black Hills during the 3rd quarter worth about $96,374,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Black Hills by 31.7% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,147,939 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $62,425,000 after acquiring an additional 275,994 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Black Hills by 54.5% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 481,415 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,179,000 after acquiring an additional 169,827 shares during the period. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. boosted its position in Black Hills by 39.7% during the 1st quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 483,120 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,378,000 after acquiring an additional 137,356 shares during the period. Finally, Invenomic Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Black Hills during the 3rd quarter worth about $8,260,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.71% of the company’s stock.

Black Hills Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:BKH traded up $0.88 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $62.98. The stock had a trading volume of 422,631 shares, compared to its average volume of 474,917. The company’s 50 day moving average is $60.56 and its 200-day moving average is $57.84. Black Hills has a 12-month low of $49.33 and a 12-month high of $63.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 1.12. The company has a market cap of $4.51 billion, a PE ratio of 16.93, a P/E/G ratio of 4.53 and a beta of 0.69.

Black Hills Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.13%. Black Hills’s payout ratio is currently 69.89%.

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.