Arizona State Retirement System Increases Holdings in Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH)

Arizona State Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 20,242 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 393 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Black Hills were worth $1,185,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Black Hills by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,663,157 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $101,671,000 after purchasing an additional 33,853 shares during the last quarter. Zimmer Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of Black Hills in the 3rd quarter valued at about $96,374,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $71,725,000 after purchasing an additional 39,369 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 461,894 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Black Hills by 19.3% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 551,582 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,279,000 after purchasing an additional 89,181 shares during the last quarter. 86.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Black Hills Stock Performance

Shares of BKH stock opened at $59.30 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.25 billion, a PE ratio of 15.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.68. Black Hills Co. has a 52-week low of $50.72 and a 52-week high of $65.59. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $58.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $60.02. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.37 earnings per share (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, equities research analysts forecast that Black Hills Co. will post 4.12 EPS for the current year.

Black Hills Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $0.676 per share. This is a boost from Black Hills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.56%. Black Hills’s payout ratio is presently 68.88%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Black Hills Company 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.