Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) Trading Up 6.5% - What's Next?

Key Points

• Black Hills shares rose 6.5% in Wednesday trading, reaching an intraday high of $72.20 on volume slightly above average.
• Analyst sentiment remains fairly positive: BMO raised its price target to $91, and the stock now carries a Moderate Buy consensus with a $81.40 average price target.
• The utility recently reported mixed quarterly results, missing EPS estimates but beating revenue expectations, while also maintaining a quarterly dividend of $0.703 per share for a 3.9% yield.

Black Hills Corporation (NYSE:BKH - Get Free Report)'s stock price shot up 6.5% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $72.20 and last traded at $72.1830. 1,102,578 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 9% from the average session volume of 1,008,755 shares. The stock had previously closed at $67.78.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on BKH. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Black Hills from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH began coverage on shares of Black Hills in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $77.00 price objective for the company. Siebert Williams Shank upgraded shares of Black Hills from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $79.00 to $82.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Black Hills from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, April 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Black Hills from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Black Hills has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $81.40.

Black Hills Stock Up 6.3%

The company has a market capitalization of $5.49 billion, a PE ratio of 18.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The stock's fifty day moving average is $73.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $72.23.

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

Black Hills Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were issued a $0.703 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $2.81 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. Black Hills's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 73.18%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Robert P. Otto sold 4,109 shares of the 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 sale, the director directly owned 10,886 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $807,958.92. This represents a 27.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.56% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Black Hills

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BKH. Zimmer Partners LP lifted its holdings in shares of Black Hills by 2,100.0% in the third quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 1,100,020 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $67,750,000 after buying an additional 1,050,020 shares in the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lifted 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 worth $110,517,000 after buying an additional 1,017,000 shares in the last quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP lifted its holdings in shares of Black Hills by 17,790.3% in the fourth quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 849,073 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $58,943,000 after buying an additional 844,327 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Black Hills by 10,853.0% in the third quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 664,080 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $40,901,000 after buying an additional 658,017 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Black Hills by 38.7% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. 86.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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