Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.17 EPS

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The utilities provider reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.17, Briefing.com reports. Black Hills had a return on equity of 8.09% and a net margin of 11.25%. The business had revenue of $726.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $683.00 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.73 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 21.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Black Hills updated its FY24 guidance to $3.80-4.00 EPS.

Black Hills Stock Performance

BKH traded up $1.22 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $57.58. 617,114 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 540,180. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $53.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $52.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.56 and a beta of 0.64. Black Hills has a 1-year low of $46.43 and a 1-year high of $66.54.

Black Hills Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. Black Hills’s payout ratio is 66.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Black Hills from $61.00 to $57.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 9th. StockNews.com lowered Black Hills from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their target price on Black Hills from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $55.00.

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.