Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Reduce” by Analysts

Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) has received a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the five ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $58.00.

A number of research analysts have issued reports on BKH shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Black Hills from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Black Hills from $54.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th.

Black Hills Price Performance

Black Hills stock opened at $59.95 on Tuesday. Black Hills has a 1 year low of $46.60 and a 1 year high of $61.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The stock has a market cap of $4.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.36 and a beta of 0.69. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $59.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $56.28.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $402.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $498.00 million. Black Hills had a net margin of 12.96% and a return on equity of 8.21%. Black Hills’s revenue was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.35 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Black Hills will post 3.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Black Hills Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Investors of record on Monday, August 19th were issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 19th. Black Hills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.04%.

Institutional Trading of Black Hills

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Black Hills during the first quarter valued at $31,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Black Hills during the first quarter valued at $31,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Black Hills during the first quarter valued at $33,000. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new position in Black Hills during the first quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Black Hills by 77.2% during the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 732 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 319 shares in the last quarter. 86.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Black Hills

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.