Short Interest in Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) Grows By 19.9%

Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 1,930,000 shares, a growth of 19.9% from the February 13th total of 1,610,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 484,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.0 days. Currently, 2.7% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Black Hills

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Black Hills by 22.7% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,831 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $400,000 after buying an additional 1,262 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new position in Black Hills in the 4th quarter worth approximately $96,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its holdings in Black Hills by 179.4% in the 4th quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,696 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $99,000 after acquiring an additional 1,089 shares during the last quarter. CSS LLC IL lifted its position in Black Hills by 15.4% in the 4th quarter. CSS LLC IL now owns 10,808 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $632,000 after acquiring an additional 1,439 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in Black Hills by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 127,341 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,452,000 after purchasing an additional 2,504 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Scotiabank reduced their price objective on shares of 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 Stock Down 0.1 %

NYSE BKH traded down $0.09 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $60.53. 74,026 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 418,038. Black Hills has a 52-week low of $50.73 and a 52-week high of $65.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $59.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $60.08. The firm has a market cap of $4.34 billion, a PE ratio of 15.43, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.68.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.17. Black Hills had a return on equity of 7.82% and a net margin of 12.84%. Sell-side analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a $0.676 dividend. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This is a positive change from Black Hills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Black Hills’s payout ratio is currently 68.88%.

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.