Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) Receives Average Recommendation of “Reduce” from Brokerages

Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the five brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $55.60.

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Black Hills from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Black Hills from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on Black Hills from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Black Hills from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 9th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Black Hills news, Director Rebecca B. Roberts sold 3,094 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.84, for a total transaction of $169,674.96. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,956 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $436,307.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Black Hills

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Financial Advocates Investment Management grew its stake in shares of Black Hills by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 4,988 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $269,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Uncommon Cents Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Black Hills by 2.0% in the first quarter. Uncommon Cents Investing LLC now owns 10,710 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $585,000 after buying an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its stake in shares of Black Hills by 0.3% in the first quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 85,382 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,662,000 after buying an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Black Hills by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 8,188 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $442,000 after buying an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in Black Hills by 56.3% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 650 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares in the last quarter. 86.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Black Hills Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of BKH opened at $54.38 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.39 and a beta of 0.69. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $54.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $53.56. Black Hills has a 12 month low of $46.43 and a 12 month high of $61.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.70 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $726.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $683.00 million. Black Hills had a return on equity of 8.37% and a net margin of 12.92%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 21.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.73 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Black Hills will post 3.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Black Hills Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th were paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.78%. Black Hills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.04%.

Black Hills Company Profile

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.