Friedenthal Financial Purchases New Shares in MDU Resources Group, Inc. (NYSE:MDU)

Friedenthal Financial acquired a new position in MDU Resources Group, Inc. (NYSE:MDU) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 43,148 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $778,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its holdings in MDU Resources Group by 23.9% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,142 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 413 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of MDU Resources Group by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 32,739 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $896,000 after acquiring an additional 641 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of MDU Resources Group by 158.9% in the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,196 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 734 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its position in shares of MDU Resources Group by 3.5% during the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 24,264 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $609,000 after purchasing an additional 817 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ingalls & Snyder LLC grew its stake in MDU Resources Group by 2.2% in the third quarter. Ingalls & Snyder LLC now owns 39,335 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,078,000 after purchasing an additional 850 shares during the period. 71.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America raised shares of MDU Resources Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $31.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Siebert Williams Shank raised 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. StockNews.com started coverage on MDU Resources Group in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on MDU Resources Group in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $18.00 target price on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, MDU Resources Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.00.

MDU Resources Group Stock Up 0.1 %

MDU traded up $0.02 during trading on Monday, hitting $17.75. 1,094,818 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,619,574. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.10, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.81. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $18.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $23.54. MDU Resources Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $14.91 and a 12-month high of $30.52. 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 (NYSE:MDU) last released 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 company had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $969.17 million. MDU Resources Group had a return on equity of 11.24% and a net margin of 8.92%. MDU Resources Group’s revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.29 earnings per share. Analysts predict that MDU Resources Group, Inc. will post 1.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MDU Resources Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, December 12th were issued a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.93%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 12th. MDU Resources Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.67%.

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.