Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Sells 17,544 Shares of Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH)

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) by 6.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 244,396 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 17,544 shares during the period. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC owned about 0.34% of Black Hills worth $14,302,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Zimmer Partners LP bought a new position in shares of Black Hills during the third quarter valued at about $96,374,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Black Hills by 109.8% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 882,646 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $53,356,000 after buying an additional 461,894 shares during the last quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Black Hills during the 4th quarter worth approximately $10,490,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Black Hills in the 4th quarter worth approximately $8,413,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Black Hills by 34.9% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 551,414 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,269,000 after buying an additional 142,537 shares during the last quarter. 86.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Black Hills Stock Performance

NYSE BKH opened at $60.02 on Monday. 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 market capitalization of $4.33 billion, a PE ratio of 15.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.68. Black Hills Co. has a 52-week low of $50.73 and a 52-week high of $65.59. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $59.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $60.08.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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, research analysts predict that Black Hills Co. will post 4.12 EPS for the current year.

Black Hills Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.51%. This is a positive change from Black Hills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Black Hills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.88%.

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.