Phocas Financial Corp. Decreases Stock Position in Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH)

Phocas Financial Corp. reduced its stake in Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) by 85.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 26,097 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 156,538 shares during the period. Black Hills comprises 1.1% of Phocas Financial Corp.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Phocas Financial Corp.’s holdings in Black Hills were worth $1,527,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BKH. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Black Hills by 84.9% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 577 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 265 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its position in shares of Black Hills by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 8,162 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $477,000 after buying an additional 270 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in Black Hills by 83.3% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 625 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 284 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in Black Hills by 181.5% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 473 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 305 shares during the period. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors grew its holdings in shares of Black Hills by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 5,904 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $361,000 after acquiring an additional 325 shares during the period. 86.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Scotiabank reduced 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

NYSE BKH opened at $59.75 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.97. The company has a market capitalization of $4.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.24, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.73. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $58.54 and a 200 day moving average of $59.82. Black Hills Co. has a one year low of $50.72 and a one year high of $65.59.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.17. Black Hills had a net margin of 12.84% and a return on equity of 7.82%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Black Hills Co. will post 4.12 EPS for the current year.

Black Hills Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.676 per share. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.53%. The ex-dividend date is 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%.

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.