Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Sells 1,362 Shares of Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH)

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. reduced its stake in Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) by 2.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 60,107 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,362 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. owned approximately 0.09% of Black Hills worth $3,674,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Black Hills during the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Black Hills by 84.9% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 577 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 265 shares during the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Black Hills by 77.2% during the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 732 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 319 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP lifted its position in Black Hills by 158.0% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 841 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 515 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Black Hills by 972.3% in the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 890 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 807 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on BKH. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Black Hills from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Scotiabank raised their price target on Black Hills from $54.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $58.00.

Black Hills Stock Down 0.7 %

NYSE:BKH opened at $59.93 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $4.13 billion, a PE ratio of 14.76, a P/E/G ratio of 4.19 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23. The company’s 50 day moving average is $60.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $57.16. Black Hills Co. has a twelve month low of $47.49 and a twelve month high of $62.20.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $402.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $498.00 million. Black Hills had a return on equity of 8.21% and a net margin of 12.96%. Black Hills’s quarterly revenue was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.35 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Black Hills Co. will post 3.9 EPS for the current year.

Black Hills Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.34%. Black Hills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.04%.

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.