Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV Boosts Holdings in Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH)

Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV raised its holdings in Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) by 3.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 15,323 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 571 shares during the quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV’s holdings in Black Hills were worth $897,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Black Hills by 66.8% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 432 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Black Hills by 182.8% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 461 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 298 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Black Hills by 181.5% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 473 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Black Hills by 373.2% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 530 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 418 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in shares of Black Hills by 83.3% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 625 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 284 shares in the last quarter. 86.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Black Hills Stock Performance

Black Hills stock opened at $61.34 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $59.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $60.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.39 billion, a PE ratio of 15.65, a price-to-earnings-growth 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. Black Hills Co. has a one year low of $50.73 and a one year high of $65.59.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) last released its quarterly 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 return on equity of 7.82% and a net margin of 12.84%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Black Hills Co. will post 4.12 EPS for the current fiscal 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 dividend of $0.676 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This is an increase from Black Hills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.41%. Black Hills’s payout ratio is currently 68.88%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Scotiabank reduced their price objective 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 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.