MDU Resources Group (NYSE:MDU) Now Covered by StockNews.com

Research analysts at StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of MDU Resources Group (NYSE:MDU) in a report issued on Wednesday. The brokerage set a “hold” rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on MDU. Siebert Williams Shank raised shares of MDU Resources Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $19.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America raised shares of MDU Resources Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $31.00 to $17.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 5th.

MDU Resources Group Stock Performance

MDU opened at $18.55 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.51, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.79. MDU Resources Group has a 1-year low of $14.91 and a 1-year high of $30.52. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $22.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $24.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 1.07.

MDU Resources Group (NYSE:MDU) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.01. MDU Resources Group had a net margin of 8.92% and a return on equity of 11.24%. The firm had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $969.17 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.29 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that MDU Resources Group will post 1.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in MDU Resources Group by 8.1% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,491,990 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $188,049,000 after acquiring an additional 563,424 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of MDU Resources Group by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,344,185 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $174,713,000 after purchasing an additional 114,719 shares during the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC raised its position in shares of MDU Resources Group by 40.9% in the 2nd quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 6,048,344 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $151,813,000 after purchasing an additional 1,756,530 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in MDU Resources Group by 30.7% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,158,224 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $104,371,000 after buying an additional 977,487 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in MDU Resources Group by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,719,543 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $101,978,000 after buying an additional 65,433 shares during the last quarter. 71.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.