Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Makes New $530,000 Investment in Black Hills Corporation $BKH

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Black Hills Corporation (NYSE:BKH) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 7,636 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $530,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of BKH. Zimmer Partners LP grew its stake in shares of Black Hills by 2,100.0% during the third quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 1,100,020 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $67,750,000 after buying an additional 1,050,020 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Black Hills by 10,853.0% during the third 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 during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Black Hills by 52.8% during the third 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 during the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP grew its stake in shares of Black Hills by 220.7% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 525,653 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,375,000 after buying an additional 361,751 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crawford Investment Counsel Inc. grew its stake in shares of Black Hills by 264.8% during the third quarter. Crawford Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 447,651 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,571,000 after buying an additional 324,931 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BKH has been the topic of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Black Hills from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Black Hills in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Siebert Williams Shank upgraded shares of Black Hills from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $79.00 to $82.00 in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Black Hills from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Black Hills from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, April 11th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Black Hills has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $81.40.

Black Hills Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BKH opened at $76.02 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $5.78 billion, a PE ratio of 19.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.73. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $72.33 and its 200-day moving average is $70.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.35. Black Hills Corporation has a 52 week low of $55.49 and a 52 week high of $78.69.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.41 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $635.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $809.88 million. Black Hills had a net margin of 12.62% and a return on equity of 7.91%. Black Hills’s revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.37 earnings per share. Black Hills has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.250-4.450 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Black Hills Corporation will post 4.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Black Hills Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were issued a dividend of $0.703 per share. This represents a $2.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. This is a boost from Black Hills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 17th. Black Hills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.