Vanguard Group Inc. Buys 225,636 Shares of Black Hills Corporation $BKH

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Black Hills Corporation (NYSE:BKH) by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,990,841 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 225,636 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 0.12% of Black Hills worth $553,746,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in BKH. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in Black Hills by 37.8% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 641 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. Lesa Sroufe & Co lifted its stake in shares of Black Hills by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Lesa Sroufe & Co now owns 45,833 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,823,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Black Hills by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 9,068 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $509,000 after acquiring an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank grew its position in Black Hills by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 32,085 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,976,000 after acquiring an additional 234 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Black Hills by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $410,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Black Hills in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Black Hills from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, February 14th. Scotiabank raised shares of Black Hills from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $66.00 to $81.00 in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Black Hills from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Black Hills has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $76.33.

Black Hills Price Performance

Shares of BKH opened at $73.67 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $5.56 billion, a PE ratio of 18.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.75. Black Hills Corporation has a 52-week low of $54.92 and a 52-week high of $75.87. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $71.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $66.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.35.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.04. Black Hills had a net margin of 12.62% and a return on equity of 7.95%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.37 earnings per share. Black Hills has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.250-4.450 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Black Hills Corporation will post 4.12 EPS for the current year.

Black Hills Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be paid a $0.703 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $2.81 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. This is a boost from Black Hills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Black Hills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 70.60%.

About Black Hills

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.