Black Hills Corporation $BKH Shares Sold by Meritage Portfolio Management

Meritage Portfolio Management reduced its position in shares of Black Hills Corporation (NYSE:BKH) by 50.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 41,683 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 42,686 shares during the period. Meritage Portfolio Management’s holdings in Black Hills were worth $2,894,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Zimmer Partners LP boosted its holdings in Black Hills by 2,100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 1,100,020 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $67,750,000 after purchasing an additional 1,050,020 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Black Hills by 10,853.0% during the 3rd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 664,080 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $40,901,000 after buying an additional 658,017 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Black Hills by 52.8% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,374,050 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $84,628,000 after buying an additional 474,947 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its holdings in shares of Black Hills by 220.7% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 525,653 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,375,000 after buying an additional 361,751 shares during the period. Finally, Crawford Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Black Hills by 264.8% in the third quarter. Crawford Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 447,651 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,571,000 after buying an additional 324,931 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BKH has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Black Hills in a report on Friday, March 27th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Black Hills from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Siebert Williams Shank upgraded shares of Black Hills from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $79.00 to $82.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH assumed coverage on shares of Black Hills in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $77.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Black Hills from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Black Hills presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.40.

Black Hills Stock Performance

Shares of BKH opened at $73.57 on Wednesday. Black Hills Corporation has a 12-month low of $55.49 and a 12-month high of $78.69. The stock has a market cap of $5.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.49, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. The company has a 50-day moving average of $72.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of $70.34.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.41 EPS 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 7.91%. The business had revenue of $635.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $809.88 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.37 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. Black Hills has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.250-4.450 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Black Hills Corporation will post 4.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Black Hills Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were issued a dividend of $0.703 per share. This is a boost from Black Hills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $2.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. Black Hills’s payout ratio is currently 70.60%.

Black Hills 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.