Insider Selling: Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) Director Sells 4,109 Shares of Stock

Black Hills Corporation (NYSE:BKH) Director Robert Otto sold 4,109 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.22, for a total transaction of $304,969.98. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 10,886 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $807,958.92. This trade represents a 27.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Black Hills Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of Black Hills stock traded down $0.62 during trading on Thursday, reaching $73.89. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 240,868 shares, compared to its average volume of 971,100. Black Hills Corporation has a 52-week low of $55.49 and a 52-week high of $78.69. The company has a market cap of $5.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.28, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.74. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $72.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $72.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.79 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.88 by ($0.09). Black Hills had a net margin of 12.61% and a return on equity of 7.77%. The firm had revenue of $780.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $769.19 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.87 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Black Hills has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.250-4.450 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Black Hills Corporation will post 4.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Black Hills Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.703 per share. This represents a $2.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. Black Hills’s dividend payout ratio is currently 73.18%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH assumed coverage on shares of Black Hills in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $77.00 price target for the company. Siebert Williams Shank upgraded shares of Black Hills from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $79.00 to $82.00 in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Black Hills from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Black Hills from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Black Hills from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, April 11th. Five equities research 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, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.40.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Black Hills

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Black Hills by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,990,841 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $553,746,000 after purchasing an additional 225,636 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Black Hills by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,841,615 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $215,515,000 after purchasing an additional 31,093 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in shares of Black Hills by 38.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,275,922 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $157,995,000 after purchasing an additional 634,800 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Black Hills by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,894,539 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $131,548,000 after purchasing an additional 55,232 shares during the period. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lifted its position in shares of Black Hills by 176.9% in the 4th quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,592,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $110,517,000 after purchasing an additional 1,017,000 shares during the period. 86.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.