Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) Upgraded to Neutral at Bank of America

Bank of America upgraded shares of Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) from an underperform rating to a neutral rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has $64.00 price target on the utilities provider’s stock, up from their previous price target of $57.00.

Separately, BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Black Hills in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $68.00 price target on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $66.00.

Black Hills Trading Down 1.3%

Black Hills stock opened at $60.0650 on Wednesday. Black Hills has a 52-week low of $54.92 and a 52-week high of $65.59. The company has a market cap of $4.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $57.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $58.83.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.38. The firm had revenue of $439.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $412.69 million. Black Hills had a net margin of 12.68% and a return on equity of 7.81%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.33 EPS. Black Hills has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.000-4.200 EPS. Analysts predict that Black Hills will post 4.12 EPS for the current year.

Black Hills Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.676 per share. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. Black Hills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.01%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Black Hills

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Black Hills by 60.2% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 54,088 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,165,000 after acquiring an additional 20,321 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Black Hills during the fourth quarter valued at about $8,413,000. Mariner LLC increased its holdings in shares of Black Hills by 17.2% in the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 28,372 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,660,000 after purchasing an additional 4,169 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Black Hills by 108.0% in the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,826 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $107,000 after buying an additional 948 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in Black Hills by 309.5% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 953,431 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $55,795,000 after buying an additional 720,628 shares during the last quarter. 86.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Black Hills Company Profile

Black Hills Corporation, through its subsidiaries, operates as an electric and natural gas utility company in the United States. The company operates in two segments: Electric Utilities and Gas Utilities. The Electric Utilities segment generates, transmits, and distributes electricity to approximately 222,000 electric utility customers in Colorado, Montana, South Dakota, and Wyoming; and owns and operates 1,394 megawatts of generation capacity and 9,106 miles of electric transmission and distribution lines.