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

StockNews.com upgraded shares of MDU Resources Group (NYSE:MDU) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Monday.

MDU Resources Group Trading Down 3.8%

Shares of NYSE:MDU opened at $16.71 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $16.79 and a 200 day moving average of $17.89. The company has a market cap of $3.41 billion, a PE ratio of 12.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. MDU Resources Group has a 12-month low of $13.23 and a 12-month high of $20.39.

MDU Resources Group (NYSE:MDU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.04. MDU Resources Group had a return on equity of 10.20% and a net margin of 7.31%. The business had revenue of $674.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $653.13 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.52 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that MDU Resources Group will post 0.94 EPS for the current year.

MDU Resources Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were paid a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.11%. MDU Resources Group’s payout ratio is 40.31%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MDU. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of MDU Resources Group by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 87,022 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,386,000 after acquiring an additional 6,264 shares during the last quarter. Friedenthal Financial purchased a new stake in MDU Resources Group during the 4th quarter valued at $778,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in MDU Resources Group by 42.2% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 115,907 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,089,000 after buying an additional 34,409 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in MDU Resources Group by 1,098.5% during the 4th quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 2,155,007 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $38,833,000 after buying an additional 1,975,200 shares during the period. Finally, Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in MDU Resources Group during the 4th quarter valued at $494,000. 71.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About MDU Resources Group

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.