Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Sells 20,683 Shares of MDU Resources Group, Inc. (NYSE:MDU)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P cut its holdings in MDU Resources Group, Inc. (NYSE:MDU) by 3.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 528,881 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 20,683 shares during the quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P owned about 0.26% of MDU Resources Group worth $14,497,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in shares of MDU Resources Group in the 3rd quarter worth $2,234,000. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in MDU Resources Group in the second quarter valued at about $2,198,000. Resolute Capital Asset Partners LLC bought a new position in MDU Resources Group during the second quarter worth about $2,008,000. Foundry Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of MDU Resources Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $4,594,000. Finally, Algert Global LLC bought a new stake in shares of MDU Resources Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,281,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MDU has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of MDU Resources Group in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Siebert Williams Shank raised shares of MDU Resources Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $19.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of MDU Resources Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $31.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th.

MDU Resources Group Stock Performance

Shares of MDU stock opened at $20.16 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.15. MDU Resources Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $14.91 and a 52 week high of $30.52. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $24.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $25.04. The company has a market capitalization of $4.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.76.

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

MDU Resources Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, December 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 12th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.58%. MDU Resources Group’s payout ratio is presently 26.67%.

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.