Black Hills Corp (NYSE:BKH) was upgraded by equities researchers at BMO Capital Markets from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note issued on Monday, The Fly reports.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on BKH. Zacks Investment Research downgraded Black Hills Corp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 28th. Williams Capital raised Black Hills Corp from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $48.00 to $53.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 19th. RBC Capital raised Black Hills Corp from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $52.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Monday, January 4th. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on Black Hills Corp in a research note on Tuesday, December 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $52.00 price objective on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $53.60.

In related news, Director Gary L. Pechota bought 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 6th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $44.29 per share, with a total value of $44,290.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $399,805.83. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Shares of Black Hills Corp (NYSE:BKH) opened at 47.27 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $45.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $42.90. Black Hills Corp has a 1-year low of $36.81 and a 1-year high of $52.96. The firm has a market cap of $2.12 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 127.41.

Black Hills Corp (NYSE:BKH) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 3rd. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.06. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.60 EPS. The business had revenue of $272.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $340.68 million. The firm’s revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Black Hills Corp will post $2.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Several hedge funds and institutional investors have modified their holdings of BKH. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Company acquired a new position in shares of Black Hills Corp during the fourth quarter worth $46,430,000. ICON Advisers increased its position in shares of Black Hills Corp by 22.2% in the third quarter. ICON Advisers now owns 198,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,214,000 after buying an additional 36,100 shares in the last quarter. Hillcrest Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Black Hills Corp during the third quarter worth $6,659,000. Boston Advisors acquired a new position in shares of Black Hills Corp during the fourth quarter worth $5,648,000. Finally, First Premier Bank acquired a new position in shares of Black Hills Corp during the fourth quarter worth $1,492,000.

Black Hills Corporation is an integrated energy company. The Company operates in the United States with two business groups: Utilities and Non-regulated Energy. Its Utilities Group is comprised of regulated Electric Utilities and regulated Gas Utilities segments, and its Non-regulated Energy Group is comprised of Power Generation, Coal Mining, and Oil and Gas segments. It conducts its electric utility operations and combination electric and gas utility operations through three subsidiaries: Black Hills Power, Cheyenne Light, and Colorado Electric. Its Non-regulated Energy Group, which operates through various subsidiaries, produces and sells electric capacity and energy through a portfolio of generating plants, produces and sells coal from its mine located in the Powder River Basin in Wyoming and acquires, explores for, develops and produces natural gas and crude oil in the Rocky Mountain region.

12 Month Chart for NYSE:BKH

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