Private Advisor Group LLC Boosts Position in MDU Resources Group, Inc. (NYSE:MDU)

Private Advisor Group LLC grew its position in MDU Resources Group, Inc. (NYSE:MDU) by 4.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 65,063 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,641 shares during the quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in MDU Resources Group were worth $1,633,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MDU. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of MDU Resources Group by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,918,944 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,995,000 after purchasing an additional 55,169 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its stake in MDU Resources Group by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 106,236 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,103,000 after buying an additional 7,137 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in MDU Resources Group by 155.7% during the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 107,011 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,119,000 after buying an additional 65,161 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in MDU Resources Group by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,181,092 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $122,386,000 after buying an additional 858,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Inceptionr LLC acquired a new position in shares of MDU Resources Group in the fourth quarter worth $280,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on MDU. Argus upgraded MDU Resources Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, May 20th. StockNews.com lowered shares of MDU Resources Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th.

MDU Resources Group Price Performance

MDU stock opened at $27.40 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. MDU Resources Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $18.04 and a 52-week high of $27.75. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $25.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.74.

MDU Resources Group (NYSE:MDU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.06 billion. MDU Resources Group had a return on equity of 11.29% and a net margin of 9.25%. The firm’s revenue was down 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.29 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that MDU Resources Group, Inc. will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.

MDU Resources Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 12th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.90%. This is an increase from MDU Resources Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. MDU Resources Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.37%.

MDU Resources Group 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.