Black Hills (BKH) Competitors

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) and NiSource (NYSE:NI) are both utilities companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, profitability, community ranking, dividends, risk, institutional ownership, media sentiment and analyst recommendations.

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer BKH or NI?

NiSource received 57 more outperform votes than Black Hills when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 59.05% of users gave Black Hills an outperform vote while only 54.86% of users gave NiSource an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Black Hills	Outperform Votes 372 59.05%	Underperform Votes 258 40.95%
NiSource	Outperform Votes 429 54.86%	Underperform Votes 353 45.14%

Is BKH or NI a better dividend stock?

Black Hills pays an annual dividend of $2.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.3%. NiSource pays an annual dividend of $1.06 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. Black Hills pays out 69.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. NiSource pays out 64.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Black Hills has raised its dividend for 54 consecutive years and NiSource has raised its dividend for 13 consecutive years. Black Hills is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Does the media refer more to BKH or NI?

In the previous week, NiSource had 3 more articles in the media than Black Hills. MarketBeat recorded 13 mentions for NiSource and 10 mentions for Black Hills. Black Hills' average media sentiment score of 1.00 beat NiSource's score of 0.91 indicating that Black Hills is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Black Hills	7 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
NiSource	9 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has more volatility & risk, BKH or NI?

Black Hills has a beta of 0.71, meaning that its stock price is 29% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, NiSource has a beta of 0.53, meaning that its stock price is 47% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do institutionals and insiders believe in BKH or NI?

86.7% of Black Hills shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.6% of NiSource shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.6% of Black Hills shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of NiSource shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Do analysts prefer BKH or NI?

Black Hills currently has a consensus price target of $61.25, suggesting a potential upside of 1.96%. NiSource has a consensus price target of $37.50, suggesting a potential upside of 3.55%. Given NiSource's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe NiSource is more favorable than Black Hills.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Black Hills	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00
NiSource	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	8 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Is BKH or NI more profitable?

NiSource has a net margin of 14.63% compared to Black Hills' net margin of 12.00%. NiSource's return on equity of 8.27% beat Black Hills' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Black Hills	12.00%	7.43%	2.60%
NiSource	14.63%	8.27%	2.70%

Which has better earnings & valuation, BKH or NI?

NiSource has higher revenue and earnings than Black Hills. Black Hills is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than NiSource, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Black Hills	$2.12B	2.03	$262.20M	$3.72	16.15
NiSource	$5.29B	3.20	$714.30M	$1.65	21.95

Summary

NiSource beats Black Hills on 14 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.