Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) Upgraded to Buy at Bank of America

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) was upgraded by analysts at Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm presently has a $78.00 price objective on the utilities provider’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $76.00. Bank of America‘s target price would suggest a potential upside of 8.21% from the company’s current price.

BKH has been the topic of several other reports. Weiss Ratings downgraded Black Hills from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH started coverage on Black Hills in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $77.00 price objective on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded Black Hills from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 11th. Siebert Williams Shank raised Black Hills from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $79.00 to $82.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Black Hills from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $81.80.

Black Hills Stock Up 6.3%

Shares of BKH opened at $72.08 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.49 billion, a PE ratio of 18.77, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.72. Black Hills has a 12 month low of $55.49 and a 12 month high of $78.69. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $73.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $72.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.79 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.88 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $780.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $769.19 million. Black Hills had a return on equity of 7.77% and a net margin of 12.61%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.87 earnings per share. Black Hills has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.250-4.450 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Black Hills will post 4.34 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Robert P. Otto sold 4,109 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.22, for a total value of $304,969.98. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 10,886 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $807,958.92. The trade was a 27.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.56% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Black Hills

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in Black Hills by 132.3% in the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 576 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 328 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new stake in Black Hills in the 3rd quarter valued at about $45,000. Clearstead Advisors LLC increased its position in Black Hills by 884.8% in the 3rd quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 778 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 699 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Corp increased its position in Black Hills by 192.8% in the 4th quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 773 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 509 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in Black Hills by 44.0% in the 2nd quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,037 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. 86.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.