Hennessy Advisors Inc. Has $3.29 Million Stock Holdings in MDU Resources Group, Inc. $MDU

Hennessy Advisors Inc. cut its position in MDU Resources Group, Inc. (NYSE:MDU) by 89.8% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 184,907 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,621,300 shares during the quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in MDU Resources Group were worth $3,293,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hantz Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in MDU Resources Group during the second quarter worth about $26,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in shares of MDU Resources Group by 94.5% during the second quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,647 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the period. Country Trust Bank acquired a new stake in shares of MDU Resources Group during the second quarter worth about $33,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of MDU Resources Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of MDU Resources Group by 61.3% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,192 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 833 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the stock. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of MDU Resources Group in a report on Thursday, October 16th. They set a “hold” rating and a $20.00 target price on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of MDU Resources Group to $22.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Zacks Research upgraded shares of MDU Resources Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Cowen began coverage on shares of MDU Resources Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of MDU Resources Group in a research note on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $21.00.

MDU Resources Group Stock Performance

Shares of MDU opened at $19.53 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.53, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.75. MDU Resources Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $15.04 and a 12 month high of $21.49. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $20.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $18.06. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

MDU Resources Group (NYSE:MDU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.02. MDU Resources Group had a net margin of 9.02% and a return on equity of 6.81%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.32 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. MDU Resources Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 0.900-0.950 EPS. Research analysts forecast that MDU Resources Group, Inc. will post 0.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MDU Resources Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, December 11th were given a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 11th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. MDU Resources Group’s dividend payout ratio is 67.47%.

MDU Resources Group Profile

MDU Resources Group, Inc is a diversified energy and services holding company headquartered in Bismarck, North Dakota. The company operates through two primary segments: Utilities and Construction Services and Pipelines & Midstream. Serving a broad geographic footprint across the upper Midwest and Pacific Northwest, MDU provides essential energy distribution and infrastructure services to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

The Utilities segment delivers electric and natural gas distribution services in Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Kansas, Wisconsin, Michigan and Washington.