Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) Shares Purchased by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) by 109.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 882,646 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 461,894 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 1.23% of Black Hills worth $53,356,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its position in shares of Black Hills by 161.5% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 54,400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,958,000 after buying an additional 33,600 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in Black Hills by 19.3% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 210,768 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,882,000 after acquiring an additional 34,129 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Black Hills by 19.3% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 102,335 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,257,000 after acquiring an additional 16,522 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC acquired a new position in Black Hills in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,807,000. Finally, Burney Co. increased its stake in Black Hills by 6.6% during the second quarter. Burney Co. now owns 79,560 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,326,000 after purchasing an additional 4,915 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.71% of the company’s stock.

Black Hills Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BKH opened at $60.08 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The company has a market cap of $4.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.71. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $61.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $58.78. Black Hills Co. has a 1-year low of $49.33 and a 1-year high of $65.59.

Black Hills Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.33%. Black Hills’s payout ratio is 69.89%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Black Hills from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $61.25.

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.