Black Hills Corporation (NYSE:BKH) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Black Hills Corporation has a consensus analyst rating of "Buy" from six covering firms, with an average 12-month price target of about $82.67.
• The company reported Q1 earnings of $1.79 per share, missing estimates, while revenue came in at $780.7 million, slightly above expectations but down 3% from a year earlier.
• Black Hills recently paid a quarterly dividend of $0.703 per share, which annualizes to $2.81 and yields about 3.7%.

Shares of Black Hills Corporation (NYSE:BKH - Get Free Report) have earned an average rating of "Buy" from the six ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $82.6667.

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Bank of America raised their target price on Black Hills from $78.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Oppenheimer set a $78.00 price target on Black Hills in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Wall Street Zen lowered Black Hills from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, April 11th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Black Hills from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Black Hills from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th.

Insider Transactions at Black Hills

In other news, Director Robert P. Otto sold 4,109 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.22, for a total value of $304,969.98. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 10,886 shares of the company's stock, valued at $807,958.92. This represents a 27.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.56% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Black Hills

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Black Hills by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,841,615 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $215,515,000 after acquiring an additional 31,093 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in shares of Black Hills by 38.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,275,922 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $157,995,000 after acquiring an additional 634,800 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Black Hills by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,894,539 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $131,548,000 after purchasing an additional 55,232 shares during the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. raised its holdings in shares of Black Hills by 176.9% in the fourth quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,592,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $110,517,000 after purchasing an additional 1,017,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Black Hills by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,418,384 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $98,464,000 after purchasing an additional 44,334 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.71% of the company's stock.

Black Hills Stock Performance

NYSE:BKH opened at $75.50 on Wednesday. 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 twelve month low of $55.79 and a twelve month high of $78.69. The company has a fifty day moving average of $73.47 and a 200-day moving average of $72.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.66, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.71.

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

Black Hills Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were issued a $0.703 dividend. This represents a $2.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. Black Hills's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 73.18%.

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.

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.