Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) Reaches New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

Black Hills Corporation (NYSE:BKH)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $74.23 and last traded at $73.57, with a volume of 71479 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $72.68.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Scotiabank upgraded Black Hills from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $66.00 to $81.00 in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Black Hills in a report on Monday, December 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Black Hills has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $71.00.

Black Hills Stock Up 1.0%

The company has a market capitalization of $5.35 billion, a PE ratio of 18.56, a P/E/G ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $70.92 and a 200 day moving average of $64.58.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.45. The company had revenue of $430.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $439.96 million. Black Hills had a net margin of 12.54% and a return on equity of 7.86%. Black Hills’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.35 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Black Hills Corporation will post 4.12 EPS for the current year.

Black Hills Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, March 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be paid a $0.703 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 17th. This is a positive change 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 payout ratio is currently 68.18%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Kimberly F. Nooney sold 14,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total transaction of $1,025,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 34,621 shares in the company, valued at $2,447,704.70. This trade represents a 29.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.63% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Black Hills

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BKH. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in Black Hills by 7.3% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 42,798 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,596,000 after purchasing an additional 2,906 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Black Hills by 83.2% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 3,345 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $203,000 after buying an additional 1,519 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in Black Hills by 37.8% during the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,040 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $184,000 after acquiring an additional 834 shares during the period. United Services Automobile Association acquired a new stake in shares of Black Hills during the first quarter worth about $255,000. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in Black Hills by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 134,673 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,168,000 after acquiring an additional 7,332 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.71% of the company’s stock.

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.