MDU Resources Group (NYSE:MDU) Now Covered by Analysts at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of MDU Resources Group (NYSE:MDU) in a report released on Wednesday, Marketbeat reports. The firm issued a hold rating and a $18.00 target price on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on MDU. Siebert Williams Shank raised MDU Resources Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $19.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. StockNews.com started coverage on MDU Resources Group in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Bank of America raised MDU Resources Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $31.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.00.

MDU Resources Group Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE:MDU opened at $18.04 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $18.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $23.66. MDU Resources Group has a 52 week low of $14.91 and a 52 week high of $30.52. The company has a market capitalization of $3.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.15.

MDU Resources Group (NYSE:MDU) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $969.17 million. MDU Resources Group had a return on equity of 11.24% and a net margin of 8.92%. The company’s revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.29 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that MDU Resources Group will post 1.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MDU Resources Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, December 12th were given a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 12th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.88%. MDU Resources Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.67%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its position in MDU Resources Group by 23.9% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,142 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 413 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its stake in MDU Resources Group by 2.0% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 32,739 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $896,000 after acquiring an additional 641 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in MDU Resources Group by 158.9% during the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,196 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 734 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its stake in MDU Resources Group by 3.5% during the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 24,264 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $609,000 after acquiring an additional 817 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ingalls & Snyder LLC raised its stake in MDU Resources Group by 2.2% during the third quarter. Ingalls & Snyder LLC now owns 39,335 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,078,000 after acquiring an additional 850 shares in the last quarter. 71.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.