Strs Ohio Sells 98,186 Shares of MDU Resources Group, Inc. $MDU

Strs Ohio lowered its stake in shares of MDU Resources Group, Inc. (NYSE:MDU) by 54.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 82,914 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 98,186 shares during the quarter. Strs Ohio’s holdings in MDU Resources Group were worth $1,382,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Hantz Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in MDU Resources Group during the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its position in MDU Resources Group by 4.1% during the second quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 29,478 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $491,000 after buying an additional 1,161 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd grew its position in MDU Resources Group by 180.2% during the second quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 55,402 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $924,000 after buying an additional 35,627 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC grew its position in MDU Resources Group by 3.8% during the second quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 15,809 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $266,000 after buying an additional 581 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in MDU Resources Group by 157.0% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 212,933 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,550,000 after buying an additional 130,073 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.44% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MDU Resources Group news, CFO Jason L. Vollmer purchased 5,000 shares of MDU Resources Group stock in a transaction on Monday, September 8th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $16.07 per share, for a total transaction of $80,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 344,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,536,886.36. The trade was a 1.47% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.94% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

MDU Resources Group Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of MDU opened at $19.73 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $17.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $17.19. The company has a market capitalization of $4.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.62, a P/E/G ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.71. MDU Resources Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $15.04 and a 1-year high of $20.39.

MDU Resources Group (NYSE:MDU) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.07 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.13 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $351.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $315.67 million. MDU Resources Group had a net margin of 8.25% and a return on equity of 8.29%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.32 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that MDU Resources Group, Inc. will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MDU Resources Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, September 11th were paid a $0.14 dividend. This is an increase from MDU Resources Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 11th. MDU Resources Group’s payout ratio is 52.83%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of MDU Resources Group in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. They set a “hold” rating and a $20.00 price target for the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of MDU Resources Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Cowen assumed coverage on shares of MDU Resources Group in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of MDU Resources Group to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of MDU Resources Group from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $21.00.

MDU Resources Group 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.