Dennis W. Johnson Acquires 30,000 Shares of MDU Resources Group, Inc. (NYSE:MDU) Stock

MDU Resources Group, Inc. (NYSE:MDU) Director Dennis W. Johnson purchased 30,000 shares of MDU Resources Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $16.64 per share, for a total transaction of $499,200.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 180,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,997,962.24. This trade represents a 19.98 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

MDU Resources Group Stock Performance

Shares of MDU Resources Group stock opened at $16.46 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $18.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $22.48. The firm has a market cap of $3.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.80. MDU Resources Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $14.91 and a 12 month high of $30.52.

MDU Resources Group (NYSE:MDU) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.03. MDU Resources Group had a net margin of 7.31% and a return on equity of 10.20%. On average, equities research analysts expect that MDU Resources Group, Inc. will post 0.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MDU Resources Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 12th were issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 12th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.16%. MDU Resources Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.68%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on MDU. Siebert Williams Shank raised MDU Resources Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $19.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of MDU Resources Group in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $18.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of MDU Resources Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of MDU Resources Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $31.00 to $17.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MDU Resources Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $21.00.

Institutional Trading of MDU Resources Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MDU. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of MDU Resources Group during the 3rd quarter worth $2,234,000. Foundry Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MDU Resources Group during the third quarter valued at about $4,594,000. Friedenthal Financial purchased a new stake in shares of MDU Resources Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $778,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of MDU Resources Group by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,082,468 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $57,080,000 after buying an additional 101,955 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of MDU Resources Group by 21.3% in the 4th quarter. Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 81,626 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,471,000 after buying an additional 14,360 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.44% of the company’s stock.

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.