Ceredex Value Advisors LLC Makes New $10.07 Million Investment in Black Hills Corporation $BKH

Ceredex Value Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Black Hills Corporation (NYSE:BKH) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 135,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $10,066,000. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC owned 0.18% of Black Hills as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Black Hills during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $928,675,000. State Street Corp boosted its position in Black Hills by 0.8% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,841,615 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $215,515,000 after purchasing an additional 31,093 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in shares of Black Hills by 38.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,275,922 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $157,995,000 after purchasing an additional 634,800 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Black Hills by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,894,539 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $131,548,000 after purchasing an additional 55,232 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. raised its position in shares of Black Hills by 176.9% in the fourth quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,592,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $110,517,000 after purchasing an additional 1,017,000 shares during the period. 86.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Black Hills Price Performance

NYSE:BKH opened at $71.71 on Friday. Black Hills Corporation has a 52 week low of $58.06 and a 52 week high of $78.69. The firm has a market cap of $5.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.71. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $73.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $73.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.52.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.13. Black Hills had a net margin of 13.01% and a return on equity of 7.98%. The firm had revenue of $452.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $490.89 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.38 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Black Hills has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.250-4.450 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Black Hills Corporation will post 4.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Black Hills Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th will be given a dividend of $0.703 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 17th. This represents a $2.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. Black Hills’s dividend payout ratio is currently 70.96%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Black Hills news, Director Robert P. Otto sold 4,109 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.22, for a total transaction of $304,969.98. Following the transaction, the director owned 10,886 shares in the company, valued at $807,958.92. This trade represents a 27.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on BKH. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Black Hills from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Black Hills from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Black Hills from $78.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Oppenheimer set a $78.00 price objective on shares of Black Hills in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Black Hills from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, Black Hills has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.67.

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.