MDU Resources Group, Inc. $MDU Shares Sold by State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D reduced its position in shares of MDU Resources Group, Inc. (NYSE:MDU) by 4.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 111,512 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 5,306 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D owned about 0.05% of MDU Resources Group worth $1,859,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lifted its holdings in shares of MDU Resources Group by 0.9% in the second quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 71,651 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,194,000 after buying an additional 606 shares during the period. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MDU Resources Group by 2.4% in the second quarter. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 27,490 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $458,000 after buying an additional 650 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance lifted its holdings in shares of MDU Resources Group by 7.1% in the first quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 11,329 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $192,000 after buying an additional 753 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of MDU Resources Group by 2.7% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 29,903 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $506,000 after buying an additional 789 shares during the period. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MDU Resources Group by 0.9% in the second quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 110,874 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,848,000 after buying an additional 946 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MDU has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Cowen initiated coverage on MDU Resources Group in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. TD Cowen initiated coverage on MDU Resources Group in a report on Thursday, October 16th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $20.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded MDU Resources Group from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research lowered MDU Resources Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered MDU Resources Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, MDU Resources Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $19.50.

MDU Resources Group Stock Performance

MDU opened at $19.22 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.93 billion, a PE ratio of 18.13, a P/E/G ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $17.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $17.13. MDU Resources Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $14.91 and a fifty-two week high of $29.18.

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

MDU Resources Group Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at MDU Resources Group

In other MDU Resources Group news, CFO Jason L. Vollmer bought 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The stock was 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 directly owned 344,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,536,886.36. This represents a 1.47% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.94% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.