Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. Has $425,000 Holdings in Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH)

Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. grew its position in Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) by 48.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,872 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,556 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Black Hills were worth $425,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Black Hills by 16.1% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,059,252 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $466,684,000 after acquiring an additional 838,590 shares during the last quarter. Zimmer Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of Black Hills during the 2nd quarter valued at about $39,326,000. Capital Research Global Investors acquired a new position in shares of Black Hills during the 1st quarter valued at about $45,758,000. Macquarie Group Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Black Hills by 14.6% during the 2nd quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 2,502,209 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $182,085,000 after acquiring an additional 318,024 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Black Hills by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,821,296 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $395,679,000 after acquiring an additional 279,987 shares during the last quarter. 86.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Black Hills Price Performance

Shares of BKH stock opened at $54.00 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $52.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $52.07. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. Black Hills Co. has a 12 month low of $46.43 and a 12 month high of $66.85. The company has a market capitalization of $3.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.78 and a beta of 0.64.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.11. Black Hills had a return on equity of 8.09% and a net margin of 11.25%. The company had revenue of $591.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $863.67 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.11 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Black Hills Co. will post 3.9 EPS for the current year.

Black Hills Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 16th were given a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.81%. This is an increase from Black Hills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. Black Hills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.33%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on BKH shares. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Black Hills from $61.00 to $57.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 9th. StockNews.com downgraded Black Hills from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their target price on Black Hills from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.80.

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.