Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,610,000 shares, a decrease of 11.5% from the January 31st total of 1,820,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 467,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.4 days.

Black Hills Price Performance

Shares of Black Hills stock opened at $59.38 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $58.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $59.94. Black Hills has a 12 month low of $50.72 and a 12 month high of $65.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.15, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.68. 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, beating the consensus estimate 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, analysts predict that Black Hills will post 4.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Black Hills Increases Dividend

The business 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 represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This is a boost from Black Hills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Black Hills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.88%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Black Hills

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of Black Hills in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $96,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Black Hills by 179.4% in the fourth quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,696 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $99,000 after purchasing an additional 1,089 shares during the last quarter. CSS LLC IL increased its holdings in shares of Black Hills by 15.4% in the fourth quarter. CSS LLC IL now owns 10,808 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $632,000 after purchasing an additional 1,439 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in Black Hills by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 127,341 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,452,000 after acquiring an additional 2,504 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Waverly Advisors LLC increased its stake in Black Hills by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 43,786 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,562,000 after acquiring an additional 2,671 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.