MDU Resources Group (NYSE:MDU) Coverage Initiated at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Equities researchers at JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of MDU Resources Group (NYSE:MDU) in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage set a “neutral” rating and a $22.00 price target on the utilities provider’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price target would suggest a potential upside of 1.27% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on MDU. Loop Capital set a $21.00 price target on shares of MDU Resources Group in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of MDU Resources Group in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MDU Resources Group in a research note on Friday, April 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $21.25.

MDU Resources Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MDU opened at $21.73 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.84. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $20.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $20.22. MDU Resources Group has a fifty-two week low of $15.76 and a fifty-two week high of $22.47. The firm has a market cap of $4.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.36, a P/E/G ratio of 4.05 and a beta of 0.70.

MDU Resources Group (NYSE:MDU) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37. The firm had revenue of $534.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $560.72 million. MDU Resources Group had a net margin of 10.15% and a return on equity of 6.98%. MDU Resources Group’s revenue for the quarter was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.90 earnings per share. MDU Resources Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.930-1.000 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that MDU Resources Group will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at MDU Resources Group

In other news, Director Charles M. Kelley bought 5,000 shares of MDU Resources Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $20.84 per share, with a total value of $104,200.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 8,031 shares in the company, valued at $167,366.04. The trade was a 164.96% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MDU. Earnest Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of MDU Resources Group by 678.2% in the fourth quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 9,946,196 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $194,150,000 after purchasing an additional 8,668,137 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of MDU Resources Group by 2,442.7% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 4,436,521 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $86,601,000 after purchasing an additional 4,262,042 shares during the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC grew its holdings in shares of MDU Resources Group by 41.3% in the fourth quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 12,894,945 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $251,709,000 after purchasing an additional 3,766,737 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of MDU Resources Group in the fourth quarter worth about $59,617,000. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of MDU Resources Group in the first quarter worth about $52,457,000. 71.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About MDU Resources Group

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.