Vanguard Group Inc. Has $553.75 Million Stake in Black Hills Corporation $BKH

Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Black Hills Corporation (NYSE:BKH) by 2.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,990,841 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 225,636 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 12.34% of Black Hills worth $553,746,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Black Hills by 10.8% during the 3rd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 736,014 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $45,331,000 after purchasing an additional 71,963 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Black Hills by 84.8% during the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 15,944 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $976,000 after buying an additional 7,314 shares during the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC bought a new stake in shares of Black Hills during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,354,000. Paradiem LLC grew its stake in Black Hills by 858.5% in the 3rd quarter. Paradiem LLC now owns 234,833 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $14,463,000 after buying an additional 210,333 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Polaris Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Black Hills in the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,242,000. 86.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on BKH shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Black Hills from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Black Hills in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Black Hills from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, February 14th. Finally, Scotiabank raised shares of Black Hills from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $81.00 in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Black Hills currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $76.33.

Black Hills Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE BKH opened at $73.67 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.51, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.75. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $71.72 and its 200 day moving average is $66.88. Black Hills Corporation has a 52 week low of $54.92 and a 52 week high of $75.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.35.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.41 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 company posted $1.37 EPS. 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. Sell-side analysts forecast that Black Hills Corporation will post 4.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Black Hills Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.703 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 17th. This is a boost from Black Hills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.81 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. Black Hills’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.