ProShare Advisors LLC Acquires 71,963 Shares of Black Hills Corporation $BKH

ProShare Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Black Hills Corporation (NYSE:BKH) by 10.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 736,014 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 71,963 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Black Hills were worth $45,331,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in BKH. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Black Hills by 84.8% in the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 15,944 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $976,000 after buying an additional 7,314 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC bought a new stake in Black Hills during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,354,000. Polaris Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Black Hills in the third quarter worth $2,242,000. Paradiem LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Black Hills by 858.5% in the third quarter. Paradiem LLC now owns 234,833 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $14,463,000 after acquiring an additional 210,333 shares during the period. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Black Hills by 33.9% in the third quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 81,954 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,048,000 after purchasing an additional 20,765 shares in the last quarter. 86.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Black Hills to $84.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Black Hills in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Scotiabank raised shares of Black Hills from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $81.00 in a report on Friday, November 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $76.33.

Black Hills Price Performance

BKH stock opened at $71.51 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $71.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $65.71. The stock has a market cap of $5.21 billion, a PE ratio of 17.97, a P/E/G ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.75. Black Hills Corporation has a one year low of $54.92 and a one year high of $75.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.67.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $635.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $809.88 million. Black Hills had a net margin of 12.62% and a return on equity of 7.99%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.37 EPS. Black Hills has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.250-4.450 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Black Hills Corporation will post 4.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Black Hills Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be given 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 is Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $2.81 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. Black Hills’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.84%.

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.