MDU Resources Group (NYSE:MDU) Rating Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of MDU Resources Group (NYSE:MDU) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning.

Separately, Argus raised shares of MDU Resources Group from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $30.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 20th.

MDU Resources Group Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE MDU opened at $24.95 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.43. The company has a market capitalization of $5.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.77. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $25.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $22.76. MDU Resources Group has a one year low of $18.04 and a one year high of $25.99.

MDU Resources Group (NYSE:MDU) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.33 billion. MDU Resources Group had a net margin of 10.74% and a return on equity of 11.42%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.23 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that MDU Resources Group will post 1.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MDU Resources Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 13th were given a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 13th. MDU Resources Group’s payout ratio is currently 21.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Rob L. Johnson bought 36,291 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $25.46 per share, for a total transaction of $923,968.86. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 41,934 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,067,639.64. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.59% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of MDU Resources Group

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in MDU Resources Group by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,181,092 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $122,386,000 after purchasing an additional 858,100 shares in the last quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in MDU Resources Group by 49.6% during the 4th quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 2,931,590 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $58,045,000 after acquiring an additional 972,540 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in MDU Resources Group by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,561,113 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $50,710,000 after acquiring an additional 44,067 shares during the period. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC lifted its stake in MDU Resources Group by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC now owns 2,141,514 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,402,000 after acquiring an additional 67,273 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in MDU Resources Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,971,000. 71.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MDU Resources Group Company Profile

MDU Resources Group, Inc engages in the regulated energy delivery, and construction materials and services businesses in the United States. It operates through four segments: Electric, Natural Gas Distribution, Pipeline, and Construction Services. The Electric segment generates, transmits, and distributes electricity for residential, commercial, industrial, and municipal customers in Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming; and operates 3,400 miles of transmission lines, 4,800 miles of distribution lines, and 82 transmission and 298 distribution substations.