MDU Resources Group (NYSE:MDU) Research Coverage Started at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of MDU Resources Group (NYSE:MDU) in a research note published on Thursday morning, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage issued a neutral rating and a $22.00 price target on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other research firms also recently commented on MDU. Loop Capital set a $21.00 price target on shares of MDU Resources Group in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of MDU Resources Group in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MDU Resources Group in a report on Friday, April 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $21.25.

MDU Resources Group Stock Down 1.0%

MDU Resources Group stock opened at $21.73 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $20.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $20.24. The company has a market capitalization of $4.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.36, a PEG ratio of 4.05 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.84. MDU Resources Group has a fifty-two week low of $15.76 and a fifty-two week high of $22.47.

MDU Resources Group (NYSE:MDU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.37. The company had revenue of $534.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $560.72 million. MDU Resources Group had a return on equity of 6.98% and a net margin of 10.15%.The firm’s revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.90 earnings per share. MDU Resources Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.930-1.000 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that MDU Resources Group will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current year.

MDU Resources Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 12th were paid a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 12th. MDU Resources Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 60.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling at MDU Resources Group

In other news, Director Charles M. Kelley purchased 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $20.84 per share, for a total transaction of $104,200.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 8,031 shares in the company, valued at $167,366.04. The trade was a 164.96% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MDU Resources Group

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MDU. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of MDU Resources Group by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,828,483 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $465,132,000 after buying an additional 571,015 shares during the period. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC raised its position in MDU Resources Group by 41.3% in the fourth quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 12,894,945 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $251,709,000 after acquiring an additional 3,766,737 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in MDU Resources Group by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 10,031,797 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $195,824,000 after acquiring an additional 267,700 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in MDU Resources Group by 678.2% in the fourth quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 9,946,196 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $194,150,000 after acquiring an additional 8,668,137 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its holdings in MDU Resources Group by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,121,385 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $139,991,000 after acquiring an additional 281,025 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.44% of the company’s stock.

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.