Very few companies anywhere can say they've raised their payout every single year since the 1970s, but this regulated utility has done exactly that while quietly building one of the more interesting large-load growth stories around. It spans eight states across electric and gas, and just landed a data center customer so large it required nearly $300 million in refundable advances before a single kilowatt got delivered.
Black Hills Corporation (BKH)
Financial Score: 86 / 99
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To keep your portfolio strong, stay on top of the financials for each company you hold. Solid companies mean better returns, so be sure to check in on their quarterly and annual numbers.
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Interesting stocks usually score 80+ on the Financial Scale, with top players hitting 90+. If that score dips below 80, it might be a good time to consider cutting ties before things take a turn.
Black Hills Corporation (BKH) is a Rapid City, South Dakota-based diversified energy holding company providing regulated electric and natural gas service across eight states, including South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Colorado, and Nebraska. Its model centers on rate-based investment: build out infrastructure, then recover costs through commission-approved rates across its multi-state footprint.
Dividend engine: 56 years and counting
Black Hills pays $2.81 per share annually, a 3.79% yield, with a 70.96% payout ratio and a 5-year dividend-growth rate of +25.00%. That payout ratio sits comfortably within the normal range for a utility, leaving room to fund growth capex without squeezing the dividend. The 56-year streak is genuinely rare, reflecting a management culture that treats the dividend as sacred, backed by a diversified regulatory footprint.
Q2 2026: a clean beat on the bottom line
For Q2 ended June 30, 2026, Black Hills reported revenue of $452.8 million, up 3.1% year over year, with adjusted EPS of $0.54 versus $0.38 a year earlier, beating consensus of $0.41, per the August 5, 2026 press release on Nasdaq. GAAP diluted EPS was $0.50, and net income available to common stock rose to $38.2 million from $27.5 million. Management reaffirmed full-year 2026 adjusted EPS guidance of $4.25 to $4.45.
Growth story: a 1.8-gigawatt customer changes the math
Black Hills’ growth story just got a jolt from data centers. The company disclosed $285 million in refundable advances tied to a single 1.8-gigawatt data center customer, alongside a new 200-megawatt solar power purchase agreement to help serve that load. Management identified over 3 gigawatts of total data center opportunities in its territory, with 600 megawatts already baked into its 2026-2030 plan.
Powered by a gold rush that also started a war
Black Hills traces its roots to the Black Hills Electric Light Company, founded in Deadwood, South Dakota, in 1883, right in the middle of the Black Hills gold rush. That same 1874 gold discovery which put the region on the map was so explosive it triggered the Battle of the Little Bighorn, reshaped U.S.–Lakota relations, and briefly made the Black Hills one of the most fought-over patches of land in the country. The company that grew out of that chaos spent decades lighting mining camps before it ever became a regulated multi-state utility, which means today’s tidy rate-case business was literally born out of frontier gold fever.
Final take
Black Hills offers a 3.79% yield, $2.81 annual dividend, 56 years of hikes, +25.00% 5-year dividend growth, and a 70.96% payout ratio. The business is backed by a Q2 EPS beat, reaffirmed guidance, and a data center pipeline led by a 1.8 GW anchor customer, but the pending NorthWestern Energy merger adds real integration risk. Business Quality Score: 86. This company is interesting, but the score suggests digging deeper into merger execution before treating it as a core holding.