Short Interest in Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) Decreases By 8.1%

Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,620,000 shares, a decline of 8.1% from the May 31st total of 2,850,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 437,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.0 days.

Black Hills Trading Up 0.1 %

Black Hills stock traded up $0.04 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $54.31. 212,620 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 504,104. Black Hills has a fifty-two week low of $46.43 and a fifty-two week high of $61.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.37 and a beta of 0.69. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $54.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $53.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.70 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $726.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $683.00 million. Black Hills had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 8.37%. Black Hills’s revenue was down 21.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.73 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Black Hills will post 3.92 EPS for the current year.

Black Hills Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th were paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 16th. Black Hills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.04%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Black Hills news, Director Rebecca B. Roberts sold 3,094 shares of the company’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 transaction of $169,674.96. Following the transaction, the director now owns 7,956 shares in the company, valued at approximately $436,307.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.63% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BKH. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Black Hills in the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Cetera Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Black Hills in the first quarter valued at approximately $388,000. Burney Co. purchased a new position in shares of Black Hills in the first quarter valued at approximately $4,076,000. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Black Hills in the first quarter valued at approximately $751,000. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Black Hills by 99.3% in the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 127,845 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,980,000 after purchasing an additional 63,687 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.71% of the company’s stock.

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.