Littlejohn Financial Services Inc. Makes New $2.05 Million Investment in Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH)

Littlejohn Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 35,092 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,054,000. Black Hills comprises about 1.8% of Littlejohn Financial Services Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 19th largest holding.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. CWM LLC lifted its stake in shares of Black Hills by 37.3% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 6,386 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $390,000 after buying an additional 1,736 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC lifted its position in Black Hills by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 6,741 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $412,000 after acquiring an additional 266 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning boosted its holdings in Black Hills by 4.1% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 24,537 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,500,000 after acquiring an additional 966 shares during the period. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Black Hills in the third quarter valued at about $221,000. Finally, Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Black Hills by 8.1% in the third quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,773 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $781,000 after purchasing an additional 954 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Scotiabank decreased their target price on Black Hills from $67.00 to $66.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th.

Black Hills Price Performance

NYSE:BKH opened at $60.36 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Black Hills Co. has a one year low of $50.72 and a one year high of $65.59. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $58.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $59.71. The stock has a market cap of $4.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.40, a PEG ratio of 4.30 and a beta of 0.73.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.17. Black Hills had a net margin of 12.84% and a return on equity of 7.88%. Analysts anticipate that Black Hills Co. will post 4.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Black Hills Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a dividend of $0.676 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This is a boost from Black Hills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.48%. Black Hills’s payout ratio is currently 66.33%.

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.