Black Hills Corporation, through its subsidiaries, operates as an electric and natural gas utility company in the United States. It operates in two segments, Electric Utilities and Gas Utilities. The Electric Utilities segment generates, transmits, and distributes electricity to approximately 218,000 electric utility customers in Colorado, Montana, South Dakota, and Wyoming; and owns and operates 1,481.5 megawatts of generation capacity and 8,892 miles of electric transmission and distribution lines. The Gas Utilities segment distributes natural gas to approximately 1,094,000 natural gas utility customers in Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, and Wyoming; owns and operates 4,732 miles of intrastate gas transmission pipelines; 41,644 miles of gas distribution mains and service lines; six natural gas storage sites; and approximately 50,000 horsepower of compression and 515 miles of gathering lines. The company also constructs and maintains gas infrastructure facilities for gas transportation customers; and provides appliance repair services to residential utility customers, as well as electrical system construction services to large industrial customers. In addition, it produces electric power through wind, natural gas, and coal-fired generating plants; and coal at its coal mine located near Gillette, Wyoming. The company was incorporated in 1941 and is headquartered in Rapid City, South Dakota.
Black Hills Price Performance
BKH traded down $0.93 during trading on Thursday, reaching $75.93. 250,184 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 375,532. The company's 50-day moving average is $72.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $72.94. The company has a market cap of $4.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.52, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38. Black Hills has a 12-month low of $61.95 and a 12-month high of $80.95.
Black Hills (NYSE:BKH - Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 3rd. The utilities provider reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.10. Black Hills had a return on equity of 9.15% and a net margin of 11.88%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.40 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Black Hills will post 4.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Black Hills Announces Dividend
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 18th will be issued a $0.595 dividend. This represents a $2.38 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 17th. Black Hills's payout ratio is 57.35%.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several brokerages have issued reports on BKH. Mizuho downgraded Black Hills from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price target for the company from $71.00 to $76.00 in a report on Friday, May 6th. StockNews.com upgraded Black Hills from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 10th.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In related news, Director Rebecca B. Roberts sold 500 shares of Black Hills stock in a transaction on Friday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.62, for a total value of $36,810.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,445 shares of the company's stock, valued at $474,480.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.71% of the company's stock.