Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) Rating Increased 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 research report sent to investors on Saturday.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Black Hills from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Black Hills in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded Black Hills from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $66.00 to $81.00 in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Black Hills has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $76.33.

Black Hills Stock Down 1.1%

BKH opened at $73.48 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $72.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $67.56. Black Hills has a fifty-two week low of $54.92 and a fifty-two week high of $75.87.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.04. Black Hills had a net margin of 12.62% and a return on equity of 7.95%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.37 earnings per share. Black Hills has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.250-4.450 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Black Hills will post 4.12 EPS for the current year.

Black Hills Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were issued a $0.703 dividend. This represents a $2.81 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 17th. This is a positive change from Black Hills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Black Hills’s payout ratio is currently 70.60%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Black Hills

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BKH. DGS Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Black Hills during the fourth quarter worth about $231,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Black Hills by 19.3% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,488 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $381,000 after acquiring an additional 888 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in shares of Black Hills by 26.8% in the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 26,124 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,814,000 after acquiring an additional 5,525 shares in the last quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury boosted its holdings in shares of Black Hills by 57.1% in the 4th quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury now owns 37,333 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,725,000 after acquiring an additional 13,562 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Black Hills during the 4th quarter worth approximately $605,000. 86.71% of the stock is owned by 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.