Black Hills Corporation (NYSE:BKH) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Black Hills Corporation (NYSE:BKH) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $81.40.

BKH has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Siebert Williams Shank upgraded shares of Black Hills from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $79.00 to $82.00 in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Black Hills from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, April 11th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH initiated coverage on shares of Black Hills in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $77.00 target price for the company. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Black Hills from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Black Hills from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st.

Black Hills Stock Performance

Shares of BKH opened at $70.46 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $73.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $72.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.36 billion, a PE ratio of 18.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. Black Hills has a 52-week low of $55.49 and a 52-week high of $78.69.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.88 by ($0.09). Black Hills had a net margin of 12.61% and a return on equity of 7.77%. The company had revenue of $780.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $769.19 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.87 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. Black Hills has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.250-4.450 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Black Hills will post 4.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Black Hills Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th were issued a $0.703 dividend. This represents a $2.81 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. Black Hills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 73.18%.

Insider Activity at Black Hills

In other Black Hills news, Director Robert P. Otto sold 4,109 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.22, for a total value of $304,969.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 10,886 shares in the company, valued at $807,958.92. This trade represents a 27.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Black Hills

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its position in shares of Black Hills by 4.3% in the first quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 3,342 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $232,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of Black Hills by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 9,192 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $638,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of Black Hills by 0.6% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 26,208 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,614,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Black Hills by 11.5% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,516 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $105,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Black Hills by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,827 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $266,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. 86.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Black Hills Company Profile

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.