Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) Reaches New 12-Month High – Here’s Why

Black Hills Corporation (NYSE:BKH) shares reached a new 52-week high on Thursday. The company traded as high as $79.16 and last traded at $79.13, with a volume of 22,177 shares. The stock had previously closed at $78.55.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on BKH shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Black Hills in a research note on Thursday. Freedom Broker raised Black Hills from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $69.00 to $78.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 7th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Black Hills from $87.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 21st. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Black Hills from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Black Hills from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and seven have assigned a Buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Black Hills has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $83.25.

Black Hills Trading Up 0.4%

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 stock has a market capitalization of $6.07 billion, a PE ratio of 20.11, a PEG ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.68. The business’s 50-day moving average is $73.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $73.54.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $452.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $490.89 million. Black Hills had a return on equity of 7.98% and a net margin of 13.01%. The business’s revenue was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.38 earnings per share. Black Hills has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.250-4.450 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Black Hills Corporation will post 4.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Black Hills Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th were issued a $0.7030 dividend. This represents a $2.81 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 17th. Black Hills’s dividend payout ratio is presently 70.96%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Black Hills

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Black Hills during the second quarter worth $928,675,000. Engineers Gate Manager LP increased its stake in Black Hills by 35.7% in 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 buying an additional 379,211 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Black Hills by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,141,272 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $79,215,000 after buying an additional 18,109 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in Black Hills by 109.2% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 899,963 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $62,466,000 after buying an additional 469,733 shares during the period. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LP purchased a new position in Black Hills during the 2nd quarter worth $3,691,000. 86.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Black Hills Company Profile

Black Hills Corporation (NYSE:BKH) is an energy company headquartered in Rapid City, South Dakota. Through its Black Hills Energy businesses, the company provides regulated electric and natural gas utility services to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Black Hills operates electric utilities and natural gas distribution systems across parts of Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wyoming. Its activities include generating and purchasing electricity, transmitting and distributing power, distributing natural gas, and developing and maintaining the infrastructure needed to serve its utility customers.

The company traces its history to the Black Hills region and has expanded through the development and acquisition of utility operations in the central and western United States.