Brokerages Set Black Hills Corporation (NYSE:BKH) PT at $77.75

Shares of Black Hills Corporation (NYSE:BKH) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the five analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $77.75.

Several brokerages have weighed in on BKH. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Black Hills from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Black Hills in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Siebert Williams Shank raised Black Hills from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $79.00 to $82.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Black Hills from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 7th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Black Hills

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Black Hills by 2.6% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,990,841 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $553,746,000 after purchasing an additional 225,636 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Black Hills by 0.8% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,841,615 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $215,515,000 after buying an additional 31,093 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in Black Hills by 38.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,275,922 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $157,995,000 after buying an additional 634,800 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Black Hills by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,894,539 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $131,548,000 after buying an additional 55,232 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. boosted its position in shares of Black Hills by 176.9% during the 4th quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,592,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $110,517,000 after acquiring an additional 1,017,000 shares in the last quarter. 86.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Black Hills Stock Performance

Shares of BKH stock opened at $71.33 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23. Black Hills has a 52 week low of $54.92 and a 52 week high of $75.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.38 billion, a PE ratio of 17.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.75. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $72.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $68.20.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.04. Black Hills had a return on equity of 7.95% and a net margin of 12.62%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.37 EPS. Black Hills has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.250-4.450 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Black Hills will post 4.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Black Hills Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were given a $0.703 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $2.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. This is a boost from Black Hills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Black Hills’s payout ratio is currently 70.60%.

About Black Hills

Black Hills Corporation is a diversified energy company based in Rapid City, South Dakota, that provides electricity and natural gas distribution services to residential, commercial and industrial customers. Through its regulated utility subsidiaries—Black Hills Power, Cheyenne Light & Power, and Black Hills Energy—the company delivers reliable energy across Colorado, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wyoming.

In addition to its distribution operations, Black Hills owns and operates a generation portfolio that includes natural gas–fired plants, coal-fired units, hydroelectric facilities and wind projects.