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

Key Points

• Analysts maintain a bullish view of Black Hills: all six analysts covering the utility rate it “Buy,” with an average 12-month price target of $83.33. Recent target changes included Bank of America raising its target to $97, while BMO lowered its target to $85.
• Institutional ownership is substantial: hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.71% of Black Hills shares, with several major investors increasing their positions.
• Black Hills beat quarterly EPS expectations, reporting $0.54 versus the $0.41 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 3.1% year over year. The company also pays an annualized dividend of $2.81 per share, yielding about 4.0%.

Shares of Black Hills Corporation (NYSE:BKH - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus rating of "Buy" from the six analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $83.33.

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Black Hills from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Black Hills from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Black Hills from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Oppenheimer set a $78.00 price target on shares of Black Hills in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Black Hills from $87.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, September 21st.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Black Hills

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BKH. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Black Hills in the 2nd quarter worth $928,675,000. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in shares of Black Hills by 38.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,275,922 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $157,995,000 after buying an additional 634,800 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Black Hills by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,894,539 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $131,548,000 after buying an additional 55,232 shares in the last quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP lifted its holdings in shares of Black Hills by 35.7% in the 2nd quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 1,442,064 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $107,290,000 after acquiring an additional 379,211 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cohen & Steers Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Black Hills by 17.8% in the 4th quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 1,385,759 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $96,199,000 after acquiring an additional 209,135 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.71% of the company's stock.

Black Hills Stock Performance

BKH stock opened at $70.66 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $5.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.71. Black Hills has a 1 year low of $59.33 and a 1 year high of $78.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.41. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $72.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $72.89.

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

Black Hills Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th were issued a $0.7030 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 17th. This represents a $2.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. Black Hills's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 70.96%.

Black Hills Company Profile

Black Hills Corporation NYSE: BKH is a diversified energy company headquartered in Rapid City, South Dakota. Through its regulated utilities, the company provides electric and natural gas service to residential, commercial, industrial and institutional customers.

Black Hills' electric operations generate, purchase, transmit and distribute electricity through a portfolio that includes coal, natural gas, wind and other energy resources. Its natural gas utilities transport and distribute natural gas, while also operating related storage and pipeline infrastructure.

The company serves communities across several Midwestern and Western states, including Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wyoming.

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