LADENBURG THALM/SH SH Begins Coverage on Black Hills (NYSE:BKH)

LADENBURG THALM/SH SH initiated coverage on shares of Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) in a research note issued on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage set a “buy” rating and a $77.00 price target on the utilities provider’s stock. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH’s price target points to a potential upside of 8.89% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on BKH. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Black Hills in a report on Friday, March 27th. Siebert Williams Shank upgraded Black Hills from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $79.00 to $82.00 in a report on Thursday, March 12th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Black Hills from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Black Hills from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 7th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $77.60.

Black Hills Stock Performance

BKH opened at $70.71 on Wednesday. Black Hills has a twelve month low of $54.92 and a twelve month high of $75.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.38 billion, a PE ratio of 17.77, a PEG ratio of 2.76 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 firm’s 50-day moving average price is $72.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $68.89.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.41 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 7.91%. Black Hills’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.37 EPS. Black Hills has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.250-4.450 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Black Hills will post 4.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Black Hills

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Zimmer Partners LP lifted its stake in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. increased its position in shares of Black Hills by 176.9% during the 4th quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,592,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $110,517,000 after purchasing an additional 1,017,000 shares during the last quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP raised its holdings in Black Hills by 17,790.3% in the 4th quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 849,073 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $58,943,000 after buying an additional 844,327 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in Black Hills by 10,853.0% in the 3rd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 664,080 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $40,901,000 after buying an additional 658,017 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in 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 buying an additional 634,800 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.71% of the company’s stock.

About Black Hills

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.