Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) Stock Rated Hold in New Coverage at Freedom Broker

Key Points

• Freedom Broker initiated coverage of Black Hills with a Hold rating and a $69 price target, implying 1.74% downside from the previous close.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive: six analysts rate the stock Buy and one rates it Hold, producing a consensus Moderate Buy rating and an average target of $81.29.
• Black Hills’ latest quarterly results beat earnings expectations, reporting $0.54 EPS versus a $0.41 estimate, while revenue rose 3.1% year over year despite falling short of forecasts.

Investment analysts at Freedom Broker assumed coverage on shares of Black Hills (NYSE:BKH - Get Free Report) in a report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage set a "hold" rating and a $69.00 price target on the utilities provider's stock. Freedom Broker's price target indicates a potential downside of 1.74% from the company's previous close.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer set a $78.00 target price on shares of Black Hills in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Black Hills from $87.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, September 21st. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Black Hills from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Black Hills from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Black Hills from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $81.29.

Black Hills Stock Down 0.1%

BKH traded down $0.05 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $70.22. 1,050,857 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 957,555. The stock has a market cap of $5.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.71. Black Hills has a twelve month low of $59.33 and a twelve month high of $78.69. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $72.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $72.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.52.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.13. Black Hills had a net margin of 13.01% and a return on equity of 7.98%. The firm had revenue of $452.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $490.89 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.38 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Black Hills has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.250-4.450 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Black Hills will post 4.34 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Black Hills

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Clearstead Trust LLC bought a new stake in shares of Black Hills in the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Black Hills in the 2nd quarter valued at $34,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Black Hills during the 2nd quarter valued at $56,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Black Hills during the 2nd quarter valued at $68,000. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Black Hills during the 2nd quarter worth $74,000. Institutional investors own 86.71% of the company's stock.

About Black Hills

Black Hills Corporation NYSE: BKH is a regulated utility holding company headquartered in Rapid City, South Dakota. Through its operating subsidiaries, the company provides electric and natural gas utility services to residential, commercial, industrial and other customers.

Black Hills owns and operates electric generation, transmission and distribution facilities, as well as natural gas distribution, storage and transportation infrastructure. Its electric utilities serve customers in Colorado, Montana, South Dakota and Wyoming, while its natural gas utilities operate in Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska and Wyoming.

The company traces its history to the development of utility services in the Black Hills region and was incorporated as Black Hills Corporation in 1941.

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