Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) Price Target Cut to $54.00 by Analysts at Scotiabank

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) had its price objective decreased by Scotiabank from $58.00 to $54.00 in a research note released on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. Scotiabank currently has a sector perform rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on BKH. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Black Hills from $61.00 to $57.00 and set a sector perform rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 9th. StockNews.com cut shares of Black Hills from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $55.00.

Black Hills Price Performance

Shares of Black Hills stock opened at $54.20 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $3.70 billion, a PE ratio of 13.83 and a beta of 0.64. Black Hills has a 12-month low of $46.43 and a 12-month high of $66.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $52.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $52.21.

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

Black Hills Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.80%. Black Hills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.33%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Black Hills by 11.4% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 51,396 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,806,000 after buying an additional 5,256 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Black Hills by 2.6% during the first quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 19,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,070,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in shares of Black Hills by 56.3% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 650 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares during the last quarter. Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Black Hills by 5.8% during the first quarter. Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC now owns 264,705 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $14,453,000 after purchasing an additional 14,575 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IFM Investors Pty Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Black Hills during the first quarter valued at approximately $517,000. 86.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.