Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Purchases 153,362 Shares of Black Hills Corporation $BKH

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in Black Hills Corporation (NYSE:BKH) by 6,416.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 155,752 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 153,362 shares during the quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in Black Hills were worth $10,812,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised 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 purchasing an additional 328 shares during the period. Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new stake in shares of Black Hills in the 3rd quarter valued at about $45,000. Clearstead Advisors LLC raised 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 purchasing an additional 699 shares during the period. First Horizon Corp raised 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 purchasing an additional 509 shares during the period. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised 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 purchasing an additional 317 shares during the period. 86.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BKH. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Black Hills in a report on Friday, March 27th. Siebert Williams Shank raised shares of Black Hills from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $79.00 to $82.00 in a report on Thursday, March 12th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Black Hills from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH assumed 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Black Hills from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, April 11th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.40.

Black Hills Stock Up 0.5%

Black Hills stock opened at $74.19 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $5.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. Black Hills Corporation has a twelve month low of $55.49 and a twelve month high of $78.69. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $72.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $71.90.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.79 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.88 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $780.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $769.19 million. Black Hills had a net margin of 12.61% and a return on equity of 7.77%. The firm’s revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.87 earnings per share. Black Hills has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.250-4.450 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Black Hills Corporation will post 4.34 EPS for the current year.

Black Hills Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued a $0.703 dividend. This represents a $2.81 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. Black Hills’s dividend payout ratio is currently 73.18%.

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.