MDU Resources Group (NYSE:MDU) Now Covered by StockNews.com

Analysts at StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of MDU Resources Group (NYSE:MDU) in a research note issued on Friday. The brokerage set a “hold” rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on MDU. Bank of America upgraded shares of MDU Resources Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $31.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Siebert Williams Shank upgraded MDU Resources Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $19.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, November 4th.

MDU Resources Group Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE:MDU opened at $17.94 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $19.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $23.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.79. MDU Resources Group has a 1-year low of $14.91 and a 1-year high of $30.52. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73.

MDU Resources Group (NYSE:MDU) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.01. MDU Resources Group had a net margin of 8.92% and a return on equity of 11.24%. The company had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $969.17 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.29 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that MDU Resources Group will post 1.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of MDU Resources Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in MDU Resources Group by 32.3% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 855,493 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $23,449,000 after acquiring an additional 209,042 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of MDU Resources Group by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,719,543 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $101,978,000 after purchasing an additional 65,433 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in MDU Resources Group by 7.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 87,022 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,386,000 after purchasing an additional 6,264 shares in the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in MDU Resources Group during the third quarter worth $396,000. Finally, Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new position in MDU Resources Group during the third quarter valued at about $619,000. 71.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.