Legal & General Group Plc Sells 36,703 Shares of Black Hills Corporation $BKH

Legal & General Group Plc reduced its position in Black Hills Corporation (NYSE:BKH) by 9.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 339,452 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 36,703 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Black Hills were worth $23,565,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Black Hills by 132.3% in the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 576 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 328 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new stake in shares of Black Hills in the 3rd quarter valued at about $45,000. First Horizon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Black Hills by 192.8% in the 4th quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 773 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 509 shares in the last quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Black Hills by 884.8% in the 3rd quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 778 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 699 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Black Hills by 44.0% in the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. 86.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BKH has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH initiated coverage on shares of Black Hills in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $77.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Black Hills from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Black Hills from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 11th. Siebert Williams Shank raised shares of Black Hills from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $79.00 to $82.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Black Hills from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.40.

Black Hills Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BKH opened at $72.84 on Monday. Black Hills Corporation has a twelve month low of $55.49 and a twelve month high of $78.69. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The company has a market cap of $5.55 billion, a PE ratio of 18.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.72. The company’s 50 day moving average is $73.04 and its 200 day moving average is $72.19.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.79 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.88 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $780.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $769.19 million. Black Hills had a net margin of 12.61% and a return on equity of 7.77%. The business’s revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.87 earnings per share. Black Hills has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.250-4.450 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Black Hills Corporation will post 4.34 EPS for the current year.

Black Hills Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued a $0.703 dividend. This represents a $2.81 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. Black Hills’s dividend payout ratio is 73.18%.

Insider Activity at Black Hills

In other news, Director Robert P. Otto sold 4,109 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.22, for a total value of $304,969.98. Following the sale, the director directly owned 10,886 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $807,958.92. This represents a 27.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.56% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.