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Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) Cut to Hold at Freedom Broker

Black Hills logo with Utilities background
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Key Points

  • Freedom Broker downgraded Black Hills from Buy to Hold and set a $78 price target, implying about 8% downside from the stock’s current price.
  • Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive: MarketBeat reports a consensus Buy rating and an average target of $83.25, with six Buy and one Hold ratings among the cited analysts.
  • Black Hills beat quarterly EPS expectations, reporting $0.57 versus $0.47 consensus, while revenue rose 8.3% year over year to $466.1 million but fell short of estimates.
  • MarketBeat previews top five stocks to own in December.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities researchers at Freedom Broker from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $78.00 price objective on the utilities provider's stock. Freedom Broker's target price would indicate a potential downside of 7.98% from the company's current price.

BKH has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Black Hills in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Black Hills in a research note on Wednesday, October 14th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $87.00 price target for the company. Bank of America upped their price target on Black Hills from $87.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, September 21st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Black Hills from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Black Hills from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Black Hills currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $83.25.

Read Our Latest Analysis on BKH

Black Hills Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE BKH opened at $84.77 on Thursday. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $74.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $73.56. Black Hills has a 52-week low of $64.74 and a 52-week high of $86.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.52. The company has a market cap of $6.46 billion, a PE ratio of 20.38, a P/E/G ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.64.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.10. Black Hills had a net margin of 13.49% and a return on equity of 8.19%. The company had revenue of $466.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $483.04 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.45 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Black Hills will post 4.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Black Hills

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Clearstead Trust LLC purchased a new position in Black Hills during the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Black Hills in the second quarter worth approximately $34,000. GK Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Black Hills during the third quarter worth $44,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Black Hills during the 3rd quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC bought a new stake in Black Hills during the 2nd quarter valued at $56,000. Institutional investors own 86.71% of the company's stock.

More Black Hills News

Here are the key news stories impacting Black Hills this week:

Black Hills Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Black Hills Corporation NYSE: BKH is an energy company headquartered in Rapid City, South Dakota. Through its Black Hills Energy businesses, the company provides regulated electric and natural gas utility services to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Black Hills operates electric utilities and natural gas distribution systems across parts of Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wyoming. Its activities include generating and purchasing electricity, transmitting and distributing power, distributing natural gas, and developing and maintaining the infrastructure needed to serve its utility customers.

The company traces its history to the Black Hills region and has expanded through the development and acquisition of utility operations in the central and western United States.

Further Reading

Analyst Recommendations for Black Hills (NYSE:BKH)

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

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