Short Interest in Black Hills Corporation (NYSE:BKH) Expands By 19.8%

Key Points

• Short interest rose 19.8% to 8,435,649 shares as of March 31, equal to about 11.2% of the stock and a short-interest ratio of 8.5 days.
• Several large funds (Zimmer Partners, Adage, Engineers Gate, Balyasny, Capital Research) materially increased positions in recent quarters, and institutional ownership stands at 86.71%.
• Black Hills raised its quarterly dividend to $0.703 ($2.81 annualized, ~3.7% yield); analysts rate the stock a consensus "Moderate Buy" with an average target of $81.40 (BMO raised its target to $91).

Black Hills Corporation (NYSE:BKH - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 8,435,649 shares, an increase of 19.8% from the March 15th total of 7,039,385 shares. Approximately 11.2% of the company's shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 991,751 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 8.5 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Black Hills

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Zimmer Partners LP raised its holdings in shares of Black Hills by 2,100.0% during the third quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 1,100,020 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $67,750,000 after acquiring an additional 1,050,020 shares during the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. raised its holdings in shares of Black Hills by 176.9% during 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 acquiring an additional 1,017,000 shares during the last quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP raised its holdings in shares of Black Hills by 17,790.3% during the fourth quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 849,073 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $58,943,000 after acquiring an additional 844,327 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its position 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 valued at $40,901,000 after buying an additional 658,017 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors raised its position 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 valued at $157,995,000 after buying an additional 634,800 shares during the last quarter. 86.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Black Hills Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of NYSE:BKH traded down $0.81 during trading on Friday, reaching $76.02. The stock had a trading volume of 985,984 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,100,593. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. The company has a market capitalization of $5.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.10, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.73. Black Hills has a one year low of $55.49 and a one year high of $78.69. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $72.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $70.00.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.41 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.04. Black Hills had a net margin of 12.62% and a return on equity of 7.91%. The company had revenue of $635.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $809.88 million. During the same period last year, the business 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, research analysts expect that Black Hills will post 4.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Black Hills Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, March 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 17th were issued a $0.703 dividend. This represents a $2.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 17th. This is a positive change from Black Hills's previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Black Hills's payout ratio is currently 70.60%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Black Hills from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday. 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 target on the stock. Bank of America upped their price objective on Black Hills from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Black Hills in a report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Black Hills from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, April 11th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $81.40.

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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