First Trust Advisors LP Reduces Holdings in Black Hills Corporation $BKH

First Trust Advisors LP lowered its stake in shares of Black Hills Corporation (NYSE:BKH) by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 870,973 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 22,123 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Black Hills were worth $53,643,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Black Hills by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,990,841 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $553,746,000 after purchasing an additional 225,636 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Black Hills by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,841,615 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $215,515,000 after purchasing an additional 31,093 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Black Hills by 2.1% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,822,356 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $102,252,000 after buying an additional 36,818 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Black Hills by 2.0% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,099,293 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $67,704,000 after buying an additional 21,922 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Black Hills by 59.3% during the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,045,165 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $58,634,000 after buying an additional 388,936 shares during the period. 86.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on BKH shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Black Hills from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 7th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Black Hills from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Black Hills in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Three equities research 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, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $76.33.

Black Hills Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BKH opened at $70.07 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $72.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $67.79. The stock has a market cap of $5.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.60, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23. Black Hills Corporation has a 12 month low of $54.92 and a 12 month high of $75.87.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period last year, the company earned $1.37 EPS. Black Hills’s revenue for the quarter 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. As a group, analysts predict that Black Hills Corporation will post 4.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Black Hills Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were given a dividend of $0.703 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $2.81 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. This is an increase from Black Hills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Black Hills’s payout ratio 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.