First Trust Advisors LP Cuts Stake in Black Hills Corporation $BKH

First Trust Advisors LP cut its holdings in Black Hills Corporation (NYSE:BKH) by 2.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 870,973 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 22,123 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 1.20% of Black Hills worth $53,643,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BKH. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Black Hills in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Black Hills by 132.3% during the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 576 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 328 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Black Hills by 37.8% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 641 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Black Hills by 884.8% during the third quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 778 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 699 shares during the period. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in Black Hills by 44.0% during the second quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,037 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 317 shares during the period. 86.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Black Hills Trading Down 1.6%

NYSE BKH opened at $70.07 on Thursday. Black Hills Corporation has a 52 week low of $54.92 and a 52 week high of $75.87. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $72.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $67.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23. The firm has a market cap of $5.29 billion, a PE ratio of 17.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.75.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.41 earnings per share 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 in the prior year, the business earned $1.37 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Black Hills has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.250-4.450 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Black Hills Corporation will post 4.12 EPS for the current fiscal 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 dividend of $0.703 per share. This is a positive change from Black Hills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $2.81 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. Black Hills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 70.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Black Hills in a report on Monday, December 29th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Black Hills from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Black Hills from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $76.33.

Black Hills Company 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.