Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) Receives $55.60 Average PT from Brokerages

Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the five ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $55.60.

A number of analysts recently commented on BKH shares. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of Black Hills from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Black Hills from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 10th. StockNews.com upgraded Black Hills from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 9th. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on Black Hills from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th.

Black Hills Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE:BKH opened at $54.16 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. Black Hills has a 1-year low of $46.43 and a 1-year high of $61.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.34 and a beta of 0.69. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $54.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $53.56.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $726.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $683.00 million. Black Hills had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 8.37%. Black Hills’s revenue for the quarter was down 21.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.73 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Black Hills will post 3.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Black Hills Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th were given a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.80%. Black Hills’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.04%.

Insider Activity at Black Hills

In other Black Hills news, Director Rebecca B. Roberts sold 3,094 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.84, for a total transaction of $169,674.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,956 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $436,307.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Black Hills

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Black Hills during the first quarter worth about $31,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Black Hills during the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Black Hills during the 1st quarter worth approximately $33,000. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its holdings in shares of Black Hills by 56.3% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 650 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 234 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Riverview Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Black Hills in the first quarter valued at $38,000. 86.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.