Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC Makes New $2.43 Million Investment in Black Hills Corporation $BKH

Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Black Hills Corporation (NYSE:BKH) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 39,501 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,433,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Black Hills by 2.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,990,841 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $553,746,000 after acquiring an additional 225,636 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Black Hills by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,841,615 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $215,515,000 after purchasing an additional 31,093 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Black Hills by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,822,356 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $102,252,000 after purchasing an additional 36,818 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Black Hills by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,099,293 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $67,704,000 after purchasing an additional 21,922 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Black Hills by 59.3% in the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,045,165 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $58,634,000 after purchasing an additional 388,936 shares during the last quarter. 86.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on BKH. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Black Hills in a report on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Black Hills from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Black Hills from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Black Hills presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $76.33.

Black Hills Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of BKH stock opened at $71.23 on Wednesday. Black Hills Corporation has a one year low of $54.92 and a one year high of $75.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $72.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $67.78. The stock has a market cap of $5.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.75.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.41 earnings per share (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 7.95%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.37 EPS. Black Hills’s revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. Black Hills has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.250-4.450 EPS. Analysts predict that Black Hills Corporation will post 4.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Black Hills Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, March 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 17th were paid a $0.703 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 17th. This is an increase from Black Hills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. Black Hills’s payout ratio is presently 70.60%.

Black Hills Profile

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.