US Bancorp DE Purchases 18,965 Shares of Black Hills Corporation $BKH

US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in Black Hills Corporation (NYSE:BKH) by 164.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,526 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,965 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in Black Hills were worth $1,880,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Black Hills by 10.8% in the 3rd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 736,014 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,331,000 after buying an additional 71,963 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Black Hills by 84.8% in the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 15,944 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $976,000 after purchasing an additional 7,314 shares in the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC bought a new stake in Black Hills in the third quarter worth $1,354,000. Barnett & Company Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Black Hills by 105.8% in the 3rd quarter. Barnett & Company Inc. now owns 28,400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,749,000 after purchasing an additional 14,600 shares during the period. Finally, Polaris Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Black Hills during the third quarter valued at approximately $2,242,000. 86.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Black Hills Trading Up 1.9%

Shares of NYSE:BKH opened at $75.69 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $5.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.75. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $72.32 and its 200-day moving average is $67.37. Black Hills Corporation has a 52-week low of $54.92 and a 52-week high of $75.87. 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, topping 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%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.37 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Black Hills has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.250-4.450 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Black Hills Corporation will post 4.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Black Hills Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, March 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 17th were given a dividend of $0.703 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 17th. This is a positive change from Black Hills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.81 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.7%. Black Hills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 70.60%.

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.