Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) Stock Rating Raised to Buy at Freedom Broker

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) was upgraded by stock analysts at Freedom Broker from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $78.00 price objective on the utilities provider’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $69.00. Freedom Broker’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 1.36% from the company’s previous close.

BKH has been the subject of a number of other reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Black Hills from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Black Hills from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Bank of America lifted their price target on Black Hills from $87.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 21st. Weiss Ratings raised Black Hills from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer set a $78.00 price objective on shares of Black Hills in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $82.57.

Black Hills Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BKH traded up $6.21 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $76.95. The stock had a trading volume of 2,693,637 shares, compared to its average volume of 968,707. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The company has a market capitalization of $5.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.68. Black Hills has a fifty-two week low of $59.91 and a fifty-two week high of $78.69. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $72.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $72.85.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $452.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $490.89 million. Black Hills had a net margin of 13.01% and a return on equity of 7.98%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.38 EPS. Black Hills has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.250-4.450 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Black Hills will post 4.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Black Hills

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Congress Asset Management Co. increased its position in shares of Black Hills by 21.7% during the third quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 267,370 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $18,737,000 after buying an additional 47,652 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Black Hills by 25.4% in the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 21,332 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,587,000 after purchasing an additional 4,325 shares during the period. WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Black Hills during the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,342,000. Engineers Gate Manager LP boosted its position in shares of Black Hills by 35.7% during the 2nd quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 1,442,064 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $107,290,000 after purchasing an additional 379,211 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its stake in Black Hills by 13.2% during the second quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 4,802 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $357,000 after purchasing an additional 561 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.71% of the company’s stock.

Black Hills News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Black Hills this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Black Hills signed agreements running through 2048 to serve Google’s planned facility. The contract converts an earlier data-center opportunity into a committed customer relationship and could provide decades of revenue visibility. Black Hills Google data-center agreement
• Positive Sentiment: The company expects to invest approximately $1.8 billion between 2027 and 2029 in generation capacity tied to the project. Reports describe a planned 564-megawatt natural-gas facility and management of a larger, 2.1-gigawatt microgrid, creating a substantial regulated-style growth opportunity. Reuters Black Hills investment article
• Positive Sentiment: Reported contract provisions, including refundable advances from Google for long-lead equipment, are expected to reduce construction and financing risk. Analysts and market commentary view the agreement as potentially supporting higher long-term earnings and valuation multiples for BKH. Black Hills investor information
• Neutral Sentiment: The data-center project remains planned, so Black Hills still faces construction, regulatory and execution milestones before the full investment and earnings benefits are realized.
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent operating performance was supportive: Black Hills reported quarterly EPS of $0.54 versus a $0.41 consensus estimate, while revenue increased 3.1% year over year. Full-year 2026 EPS guidance remains $4.25 to $4.45.
• Negative Sentiment: The large expansion requires significant capital spending and could increase financing needs and leverage, despite the customer advances and long-term contract protections.
• Negative Sentiment: One insider, Robert P. Otto, reportedly sold 4,109 shares during the past six months. This is a limited signal but may temper enthusiasm at the margin.

About Black Hills

Black Hills Corporation (NYSE:BKH) is a regulated utility holding company headquartered in Rapid City, South Dakota. Through its operating subsidiaries, the company provides electric and natural gas utility services to residential, commercial, industrial and other customers.

Black Hills owns and operates electric generation, transmission and distribution facilities, as well as natural gas distribution, storage and transportation infrastructure. Its electric utilities serve customers in Colorado, Montana, South Dakota and Wyoming, while its natural gas utilities operate in Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska and Wyoming.

The company traces its history to the development of utility services in the Black Hills region and was incorporated as Black Hills Corporation in 1941.