Moors & Cabot Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in MDU Resources Group, Inc. (NYSE:MDU)

Moors & Cabot Inc. cut its stake in shares of MDU Resources Group, Inc. (NYSE:MDU) by 1.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 41,198 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 815 shares during the quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc.’s holdings in MDU Resources Group were worth $1,129,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in MDU Resources Group by 8.1% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,491,990 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $188,049,000 after buying an additional 563,424 shares during the period. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC grew its position in shares of MDU Resources Group by 40.9% during the second quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 6,048,344 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $151,813,000 after purchasing an additional 1,756,530 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in MDU Resources Group by 30.7% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,158,224 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $104,371,000 after purchasing an additional 977,487 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in MDU Resources Group by 1.9% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in MDU Resources Group by 36.6% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,745,980 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $43,824,000 after purchasing an additional 467,465 shares during the period. 71.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on MDU. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of MDU Resources Group in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Siebert Williams Shank upgraded shares of MDU Resources Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $19.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded MDU Resources Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $31.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th.

MDU Resources Group Trading Up 2.6 %

MDU stock opened at $19.28 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $25.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $25.19. MDU Resources Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $14.91 and a fifty-two week high of $30.52. The firm has a market cap of $3.93 billion, a PE ratio of 9.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.76. 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 released its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $969.17 million. MDU Resources Group had a net margin of 8.92% and a return on equity of 11.24%. The business’s revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.29 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that MDU Resources Group, Inc. will post 1.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MDU Resources Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 12th will be paid a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 12th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.70%. MDU Resources Group’s payout ratio is 26.67%.

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.