Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Boosts Stock Holdings in MDU Resources Group, Inc. $MDU

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in shares of MDU Resources Group, Inc. (NYSE:MDU) by 35.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 685,347 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 179,357 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned approximately 0.34% of MDU Resources Group worth $12,206,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in MDU Resources Group by 8.7% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 499,908 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,453,000 after purchasing an additional 39,978 shares during the last quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System grew its holdings in shares of MDU Resources Group by 0.9% during the second quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 71,651 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,194,000 after buying an additional 606 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of MDU Resources Group by 97.3% during the second quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 40,432 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $674,000 after buying an additional 19,940 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its position in shares of MDU Resources Group by 15.9% in the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 25,118 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $419,000 after buying an additional 3,439 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Yousif Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of MDU Resources Group by 2.7% in the second quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 78,226 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,304,000 after buying an additional 2,031 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.44% of the company’s stock.

MDU Resources Group Price Performance

MDU Resources Group stock opened at $21.04 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $20.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $18.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.75. MDU Resources Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $15.04 and a 1 year high of $21.49. The company has a market capitalization of $4.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.75.

MDU Resources Group (NYSE:MDU) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.02. MDU Resources Group had a return on equity of 6.81% and a net margin of 9.02%.During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.32 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that MDU Resources Group, Inc. will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current year.

MDU Resources Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 11th were given a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 11th. MDU Resources Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.47%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on MDU. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of MDU Resources Group to $22.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Zacks Research upgraded MDU Resources Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of MDU Resources Group in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on MDU Resources Group in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $20.00 target price for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of MDU Resources Group in a research report on Monday, December 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, MDU Resources Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $21.00.

About MDU Resources Group

MDU Resources Group, Inc is a diversified energy and services holding company headquartered in Bismarck, North Dakota. The company operates through two primary segments: Utilities and Construction Services and Pipelines & Midstream. Serving a broad geographic footprint across the upper Midwest and Pacific Northwest, MDU provides essential energy distribution and infrastructure services to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

The Utilities segment delivers electric and natural gas distribution services in Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Kansas, Wisconsin, Michigan and Washington.