Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) Reaches New 52-Week High at $60.36

Shares of Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $60.36 and last traded at $60.28, with a volume of 20065 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $59.75.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on BKH shares. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Black Hills from $54.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Mizuho upped their target price on Black Hills from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Black Hills from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Black Hills presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $58.00.

Black Hills Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $57.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $55.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.06. The stock has a market cap of $4.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.70 and a beta of 0.68.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $402.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $498.00 million. Black Hills had a return on equity of 8.21% and a net margin of 12.96%. Black Hills’s revenue was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.35 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Black Hills Co. will post 3.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Black Hills Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Investors of record on Monday, August 19th were given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.36%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 19th. Black Hills’s dividend payout ratio is 64.04%.

Institutional Trading of Black Hills

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in shares of Black Hills by 17.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,251,722 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $175,430,000 after acquiring an additional 475,768 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Black Hills by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,143,567 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $439,345,000 after purchasing an additional 322,271 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Black Hills by 31.7% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,147,939 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $62,425,000 after purchasing an additional 275,994 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Black Hills by 36.9% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 755,095 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $40,737,000 after purchasing an additional 203,340 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Black Hills by 54.5% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 481,415 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,179,000 after purchasing an additional 169,827 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.71% of the company’s stock.

Black Hills Company Profile

Black Hills Corporation, through its subsidiaries, operates as an electric and natural gas utility company in the United States. The company operates in two segments: Electric Utilities and Gas Utilities. The Electric Utilities segment generates, transmits, and distributes electricity to approximately 222,000 electric utility customers in Colorado, Montana, South Dakota, and Wyoming; and owns and operates 1,394 megawatts of generation capacity and 9,106 miles of electric transmission and distribution lines.