Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) Hits New 1-Year High on Earnings Beat

Black Hills Corporation (NYSE:BKH) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The company traded as high as $86.49 and last traded at $86.1420, with a volume of 135,348 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $84.19.

The utilities provider reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $466.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $483.04 million. Black Hills had a net margin of 13.01% and a return on equity of 7.98%. Black Hills’s revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.45 earnings per share.

Black Hills Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 17th will be paid a $0.7030 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 17th. This represents a $2.81 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. Black Hills’s dividend payout ratio is currently 70.96%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Freedom Broker upgraded shares of Black Hills from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $69.00 to $78.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 7th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Black Hills in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Black Hills in a research note on Wednesday, October 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $87.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Black Hills from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Black Hills from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and seven have issued a Buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Black Hills currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.25.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Black Hills

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Black Hills in the 2nd quarter worth $928,675,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its position in Black Hills by 90.7% during the 3rd quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 1,593,242 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $111,654,000 after acquiring an additional 757,990 shares during the last quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP increased its stake in shares of Black Hills by 35.7% in the second quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 1,442,064 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $107,290,000 after buying an additional 379,211 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Black Hills by 1.6% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,141,272 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $79,215,000 after purchasing an additional 18,109 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in Black Hills by 109.2% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 899,963 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $62,466,000 after purchasing an additional 469,733 shares during the last quarter. 86.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Black Hills Price Performance

The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $74.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $73.50. The firm has a market cap of $6.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.52.

About Black Hills

Black Hills Corporation (NYSE:BKH) is an energy company headquartered in Rapid City, South Dakota. Through its Black Hills Energy businesses, the company provides regulated electric and natural gas utility services to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Black Hills operates electric utilities and natural gas distribution systems across parts of Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wyoming. Its activities include generating and purchasing electricity, transmitting and distributing power, distributing natural gas, and developing and maintaining the infrastructure needed to serve its utility customers.

The company traces its history to the Black Hills region and has expanded through the development and acquisition of utility operations in the central and western United States.