City Holding Co. Lowers Position in MDU Resources Group, Inc. (NYSE:MDU)

City Holding Co. lowered its position in MDU Resources Group, Inc. (NYSE:MDU) by 10.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 5,130 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 575 shares during the quarter. City Holding Co.’s holdings in MDU Resources Group were worth $92,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MDU. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of MDU Resources Group by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,344,185 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $174,713,000 after buying an additional 114,719 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in MDU Resources Group by 1.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,719,543 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $101,978,000 after acquiring an additional 65,433 shares in the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in MDU Resources Group by 1,098.5% in the fourth quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 2,155,007 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $38,833,000 after acquiring an additional 1,975,200 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of MDU Resources Group by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,082,468 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $57,080,000 after purchasing an additional 101,955 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in shares of MDU Resources Group by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,782,538 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $48,859,000 after purchasing an additional 33,982 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.44% of the company’s stock.

MDU Resources Group Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of MDU opened at $18.34 on Tuesday. MDU Resources Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $14.91 and a 1-year high of $30.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $18.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $23.26. The stock has a market cap of $3.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.81.

MDU Resources Group (NYSE:MDU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.01. The company 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.29 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that MDU Resources Group, Inc. will post 1.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MDU Resources Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 12th were issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 12th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.83%. MDU Resources Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on MDU. Siebert Williams Shank upgraded shares of MDU Resources Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $19.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on MDU Resources Group in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. They set a “hold” rating and a $18.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America raised MDU Resources Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $31.00 to $17.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on MDU Resources Group in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.00.

MDU Resources Group Company 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.