Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) Upgraded to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report released on Saturday.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Black Hills from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Black Hills from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Black Hills from $78.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Oppenheimer set a $78.00 price objective on shares of Black Hills in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.67.

Black Hills Trading Up 2.6%

NYSE:BKH opened at $74.66 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. Black Hills has a 1-year low of $58.06 and a 1-year high of $78.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.85, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.71. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $73.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $73.12.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $452.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $490.89 million. Black Hills had a return on equity of 8.03% and a net margin of 13.01%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.38 EPS. Black Hills has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.250-4.450 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Black Hills will post 4.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Black Hills Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th will be paid 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 of this dividend is Monday, August 17th. Black Hills’s dividend payout ratio is presently 73.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Black Hills news, Director Robert P. Otto sold 4,109 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director directly owned 10,886 shares in the company, valued at approximately $807,958.92. This trade represents a 27.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in Black Hills in the 2nd quarter valued at $654,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Black Hills in the 2nd quarter worth $68,000. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI acquired a new position in Black Hills in the 2nd quarter worth $253,000. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Black Hills during the 2nd quarter worth about $928,675,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG bought a new position in Black Hills during the 2nd quarter worth about $5,834,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.71% of the company’s stock.

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.