Crawford Investment Counsel Inc. Purchases 41,914 Shares of Black Hills Corporation $BKH

Crawford Investment Counsel Inc. grew its position in Black Hills Corporation (NYSE:BKH) by 9.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 489,565 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 41,914 shares during the quarter. Crawford Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Black Hills were worth $33,986,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Black Hills by 132.3% in the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 576 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 328 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new position in shares of Black Hills in the third quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Clearstead Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Black Hills by 884.8% in the third quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 778 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 699 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Corp raised its stake in shares of Black Hills by 192.8% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 773 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 509 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Black Hills by 44.0% in the second quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,037 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 317 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.71% of the company’s stock.

Black Hills Stock Performance

Shares of Black Hills stock opened at $73.47 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The firm has a market cap of $5.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.72. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $73.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $72.29. Black Hills Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $55.49 and a fifty-two week high of $78.69.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.79 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.88 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $780.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $769.19 million. Black Hills had a net margin of 12.61% and a return on equity of 7.77%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.87 EPS. Black Hills has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.250-4.450 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Black Hills Corporation will post 4.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Black Hills Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th were issued a dividend of $0.703 per share. This represents a $2.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. Black Hills’s payout ratio is currently 73.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Black Hills news, Director Robert P. Otto sold 4,109 shares of Black Hills stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.22, for a total transaction of $304,969.98. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 10,886 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $807,958.92. The trade was a 27.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer set a $78.00 price target on shares of Black Hills in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Bank of America raised shares of Black Hills from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $76.00 to $78.00 in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Black Hills from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, April 11th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH assumed coverage on shares of Black Hills in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $77.00 price target for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Black Hills from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Black Hills currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $81.17.

Black Hills 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.