Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Lowers Holdings in Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH)

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) by 6.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). 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’s holdings in Black Hills were worth $14,302,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Black Hills by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,602,223 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $503,402,000 after buying an additional 37,790 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Black Hills by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,663,157 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $101,671,000 after acquiring an additional 33,853 shares during the last quarter. Zimmer Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Black Hills during the third quarter worth about $96,374,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Black Hills by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,225,653 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $71,725,000 after purchasing an additional 39,369 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Black Hills by 109.8% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 882,646 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $53,356,000 after purchasing an additional 461,894 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Scotiabank decreased their price target on shares of 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 Price Performance

BKH opened at $60.02 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.31, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. Black Hills Co. has a 12-month low of $50.73 and a 12-month high of $65.59. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $59.66 and a 200-day moving average price of $60.08.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. Equities analysts predict that Black Hills Co. will post 4.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Black Hills Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $0.676 dividend. 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 4.51%. Black Hills’s payout ratio is currently 68.88%.

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.