Yahoo Finance Here's Why Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) Has Caught The Eye Of Investors
The excitement of investing in a company that can reverse its fortunes is a big draw for some speculators, so even companies that have no revenue, no profit, and a record of falling short, can manage to find investors. Unfortunately, these high risk investments often have little probability of ever paying off, and many investors pay a price to learn their lesson. While a well funded company may sustain losses for years, it will need to generate a profit eventually, or else investors will move on and the company will wither away.
If this kind of company isn't your style, you like companies that generate revenue, and even earn profits, then you may well be interested in Black Hills (NYSE:BKH). Even if this company is fairly valued by the market, investors would agree that generating consistent profits will continue to provide Black Hills with the means to add long-term value to shareholders.
Check out our latest analysis for Black Hills
Black Hills' Earnings Per Share Are Growing
If a company can keep growing earnings per share (EPS) long enough, its share price should eventually follow. That makes EPS growth an attractive quality for any company. We can see that in the last three years Black Hills grew its EPS by 6.0% per year. While that sort of growth rate isn't anything to write home about, it does show the business is growing.
Careful consideration of revenue growth and earnings before interest and taxation (EBIT) margins can help inform a view on the sustainability of the recent profit growth. While Black Hills did well to grow revenue over the last year, EBIT margins were dampened at the same time. So it seems the future may hold further growth, especially if EBIT margins can remain steady.
You can take a look at the company's revenue and earnings growth trend, in the chart below. To see the actual numbers, click on the chart.
Fortunately, we've got access to analyst forecasts of Black Hills' future profits. You can do your own forecasts without looking, or you can take a peek at what the professionals are predicting.
Are Black Hills Insiders Aligned With All Shareholders?
It should give investors a sense of security owning shares in a company if insiders also own shares, creating a close alignment their interests. Black Hills followers will find comfort in knowing that insiders have a significant amount of capital that aligns their best interests with the wider shareholder group. To be specific, they have US$23m worth of shares. That shows significant buy-in, and may indicate conviction in the business strategy. Despite being just 0.6% of the company, the value of that investment is enough to show insiders have plenty riding on the venture.
While it's always good to see some strong conviction in the company from insiders through heavy investment, it's also important for shareholders to ask if management compensation policies are reasonable. Our quick analysis into CEO remuneration would seem to indicate they are. For companies with market capitalisations between US$2.0b and US$6.4b, like Black Hills, the median CEO pay is around US$6.5m.
Black Hills offered total compensation worth US$4.4m to its CEO in the year to December 2021. That comes in below the average for similar sized companies and seems pretty reasonable. While the level of CEO compensation shouldn't be the biggest factor in how the company is viewed, modest remuneration is a positive, because it suggests that the board keeps shareholder interests in mind. It can also be a sign of good governance, more generally.
Does Black Hills Deserve A Spot On Your Watchlist?
As previously touched on, Black Hills is a growing business, which is encouraging. The fact that EPS is growing is a genuine positive for Black Hills, but the pleasant picture gets better than that. With a meaningful level of insider ownership, and reasonable CEO pay, a reasonable mind might conclude that this is one stock worth watching. What about risks? Every company has them, and we've spotted 3 warning signs for Black Hills (of which 1 is a bit unpleasant!) you should know about.
The beauty of investing is that you can invest in almost any company you want. But if you prefer to focus on stocks that have demonstrated insider buying, here is a list of companies with insider buying in the last three months.
Please note the insider transactions discussed in this article refer to reportable transactions in the relevant jurisdiction.
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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
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