Foster & Motley Inc. Lowers Holdings in MDU Resources Group, Inc. $MDU

Foster & Motley Inc. lowered its stake in shares of MDU Resources Group, Inc. (NYSE:MDU) by 30.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 16,611 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 7,159 shares during the quarter. Foster & Motley Inc.’s holdings in MDU Resources Group were worth $277,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of MDU Resources Group by 179.0% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,518 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 974 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of MDU Resources Group by 241.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,843 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 1,304 shares during the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank purchased a new position in shares of MDU Resources Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in MDU Resources Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Finally, Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in MDU Resources Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $82,000. Institutional investors own 71.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MDU has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of MDU Resources Group from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of MDU Resources Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $20.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, September 19th. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of MDU Resources Group in a report on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating and a $20.00 target price for the company. Zacks Research downgraded shares of MDU Resources Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Cowen assumed coverage on shares of MDU Resources Group in a research report on Wednesday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MDU Resources Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $19.00.

Insider Activity

In other MDU Resources Group news, CFO Jason L. Vollmer purchased 5,000 shares of MDU Resources Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $16.07 per share, with a total value of $80,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 344,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,536,886.36. This trade represents a 1.47% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

MDU Resources Group Stock Performance

MDU opened at $19.17 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $17.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $16.89. MDU Resources Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $14.91 and a 1 year high of $30.52. The stock has a market cap of $3.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.08, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.70.

MDU Resources Group (NYSE:MDU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.07 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.13 by ($0.06). MDU Resources Group had a return on equity of 8.29% and a net margin of 8.25%.The company had revenue of $351.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $315.67 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.32 EPS. MDU Resources Group’s revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. MDU Resources Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 0.880-0.950 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that MDU Resources Group, Inc. will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current year.

MDU Resources Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 11th were given a dividend of $0.14 per share. This is a boost from MDU Resources Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 11th. MDU Resources Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.83%.

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.