MDU Resources Group, Inc. (NYSE:MDU) Declares $0.22 Quarterly Dividend

MDU Resources Group, Inc. (NYSE:MDU – Get Rating) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, May 11th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 9th will be paid a dividend of 0.2175 per share by the utilities provider on Friday, July 1st. This represents a $0.87 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.47%.

MDU Resources Group has raised its dividend by an average of 2.5% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 26 years. MDU Resources Group has a dividend payout ratio of 38.5% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect MDU Resources Group to earn $2.23 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.87 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 39.0%.

MDU Resources Group stock traded down $0.03 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $25.06. 49,711 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,609,506. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $28.12. MDU Resources Group has a fifty-two week low of $24.92 and a fifty-two week high of $34.63. The stock has a market cap of $5.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.11.

MDU Resources Group (NYSE:MDU – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.21 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $1.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.07 billion. MDU Resources Group had a return on equity of 10.81% and a net margin of 6.09%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.26 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that MDU Resources Group will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Several research analysts have weighed in on MDU shares. Zacks Investment Research upgraded MDU Resources Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $27.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday. StockNews.com started coverage on MDU Resources Group in a research report on Thursday, March 31st. They set a “hold” rating on the stock.

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of MDU Resources Group in the fourth quarter worth $630,000. Horizon Investments LLC acquired a new stake in MDU Resources Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $801,000. Glenmede Trust Co. NA boosted its stake in MDU Resources Group by 22.4% in the fourth quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 27,609 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $851,000 after buying an additional 5,049 shares in the last quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. boosted its stake in MDU Resources Group by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 29,491 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $910,000 after buying an additional 1,412 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY boosted its stake in MDU Resources Group by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY now owns 36,348 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,121,000 after buying an additional 3,414 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.14% of the company’s stock.

About MDU Resources Group (Get Rating)

MDU Resources Group, Inc engages in the regulated energy delivery, and construction materials and services businesses in the United States. The company's Electric segment generates, transmits, and distributes electricity for residential, commercial, industrial, and municipal customers in Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming, as well as operates 3,500 miles of transmission lines and 4,800 miles of distribution lines.

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