Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) Price Target Raised to $82.00 at BMO Capital Markets

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) had its price objective raised by research analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $70.00 to $82.00 in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. BMO Capital Markets’ price objective points to a potential upside of 12.06% from the stock’s current price.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on BKH. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Black Hills in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Black Hills from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $66.00 to $81.00 in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Black Hills presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $75.67.

Black Hills Stock Performance

NYSE BKH traded up $0.49 on Tuesday, reaching $73.17. The stock had a trading volume of 317,285 shares, compared to its average volume of 897,569. The stock has a market cap of $5.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.75. Black Hills has a 12-month low of $54.92 and a 12-month high of $74.23. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $70.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $64.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.91.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45. Black Hills had a net margin of 12.54% and a return on equity of 7.86%. The business had revenue of $430.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $439.96 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.35 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Black Hills will post 4.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Black Hills news, CFO Kimberly F. Nooney sold 14,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total transaction of $1,025,150.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 34,621 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,447,704.70. This represents a 29.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.63% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Black Hills

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Spire Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Black Hills by 4,115.4% during the 2nd quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 548 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 535 shares during the period. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Black Hills during the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Black Hills by 37.8% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 641 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameritas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Black Hills in the second quarter worth about $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.71% of the company’s stock.

Black Hills Company Profile

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.