Black Hills Corporation $BKH Shares Sold by Meritage Portfolio Management

Key Points

• Meritage Portfolio Management cut its Black Hills stake by 50.6% in Q4, selling 42,686 shares and leaving 41,683 shares worth about $2.89 million.
• Analyst sentiment is modestly positive: five Buys and one Hold produce a consensus "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $81.40 amid mixed recent upgrades and downgrades.
• Company fundamentals and shareholder returns — Black Hills topped EPS estimates last quarter ($1.41 vs. $1.37), set FY2026 guidance of $4.25–$4.45, and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.703 (annualized $2.81), a ~3.8% yield with a ~70.6% payout ratio.

Meritage Portfolio Management cut its holdings in Black Hills Corporation (NYSE:BKH - Free Report) by 50.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 41,683 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 42,686 shares during the period. Meritage Portfolio Management owned about 0.06% of Black Hills worth $2,894,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Black Hills by 132.3% in the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 576 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 328 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Black Hills by 37.8% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 641 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC acquired a new stake in Black Hills during the third quarter worth approximately $45,000. Clearstead Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Black Hills by 884.8% during the 3rd quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 778 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 699 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Corp lifted its position in shares of Black Hills by 192.8% during the 4th quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 773 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 509 shares during the last quarter. 86.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on BKH. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Black Hills from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, April 11th. Siebert Williams Shank raised shares of Black Hills from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $79.00 to $82.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. BMO Capital Markets upped 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. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Black Hills in a report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH started coverage on Black Hills in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. They set a "buy" rating and a $77.00 target price on the stock. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $81.40.

Black Hills Stock Performance

Shares of BKH opened at $73.57 on Wednesday. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $72.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $70.34. The firm has a market cap of $5.60 billion, a PE ratio of 18.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.73. Black Hills Corporation has a 12-month low of $55.49 and a 12-month high of $78.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.41 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.04. Black Hills had a net margin of 12.62% and a return on equity of 7.91%. The firm had revenue of $635.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $809.88 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.37 EPS. Black Hills's revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. Black Hills has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.250-4.450 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Black Hills Corporation will post 4.31 EPS for the current year.

Black Hills Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were paid a $0.703 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $2.81 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. This is an increase from Black Hills's previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Black Hills's dividend payout ratio is presently 70.60%.

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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