Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH)

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) by 43.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 97,056 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 75,231 shares during the quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. owned 0.14% of Black Hills worth $5,236,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. State of Wyoming purchased a new position in shares of Black Hills during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Black Hills by 87.3% in the third quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 562 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in Black Hills in the second quarter worth approximately $30,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its stake in Black Hills by 678.4% in the third quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 685 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 597 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Belpointe Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Black Hills by 60.6% in the first quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 652 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.71% of the company’s stock.

Black Hills Stock Performance

NYSE:BKH opened at $54.22 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.70 billion, a PE ratio of 13.83 and a beta of 0.64. Black Hills Co. has a fifty-two week low of $46.43 and a fifty-two week high of $66.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.70. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $52.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $52.00.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $591.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $863.67 million. Black Hills had a return on equity of 8.09% and a net margin of 11.25%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.11 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Black Hills Co. will post 3.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Black Hills Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 16th were issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. This is an increase from Black Hills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. Black Hills’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Scotiabank upped their target price on Black Hills from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Black Hills from $61.00 to $57.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Black Hills from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Black Hills currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $55.80.

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.