Victory Capital Management Inc. Purchases 89,181 Shares of Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH)

Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) by 19.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 551,582 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 89,181 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Black Hills were worth $32,279,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of BKH. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Black Hills by 20.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,569 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $340,000 after acquiring an additional 944 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE grew its position in shares of Black Hills by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 12,443 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $761,000 after acquiring an additional 1,330 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of Black Hills by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 18,855 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,151,000 after acquiring an additional 1,282 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Black Hills during the 3rd quarter worth about $308,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Black Hills during the 3rd quarter worth about $45,000. Institutional investors own 86.71% of the company’s stock.

Black Hills Stock Performance

Shares of BKH stock opened at $60.09 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.33, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.68. 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 50-day simple moving average of $58.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $59.99. Black Hills Co. has a 52 week low of $50.72 and a 52 week high of $65.59.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 predict that Black Hills Co. will post 4.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Black Hills Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $0.676 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.50%. This is an increase from Black Hills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Black Hills’s payout ratio is currently 68.88%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Scotiabank reduced their target price on shares of Black Hills from $67.00 to $66.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th.

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.