Dennis W. Johnson Purchases 30,000 Shares of MDU Resources Group, Inc. (NYSE:MDU) Stock

MDU Resources Group, Inc. (NYSE:MDU) Director Dennis W. Johnson purchased 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $16.64 per share, with a total value of $499,200.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 180,166 shares in the company, valued at $2,997,962.24. The trade was a 19.98 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

MDU Resources Group Stock Up 3.1 %

NYSE:MDU opened at $16.98 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $3.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.15. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $18.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $22.41. MDU Resources Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $14.91 and a 52-week high of $30.52.

MDU Resources Group (NYSE:MDU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.03. MDU Resources Group had a return on equity of 10.20% and a net margin of 7.31%. On average, analysts anticipate that MDU Resources Group, Inc. will post 0.95 EPS for the current year.

MDU Resources Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 12th were given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.06%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 12th. MDU Resources Group’s dividend payout ratio is 37.68%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MDU Resources Group

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Prudential Financial Inc. grew its holdings in MDU Resources Group by 203.4% during the 4th quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 231,308 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,242,000 after acquiring an additional 155,062 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of MDU Resources Group by 16.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,997,452 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $414,414,000 after purchasing an additional 3,276,114 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of MDU Resources Group by 12.0% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 154,670 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,787,000 after purchasing an additional 16,547 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in MDU Resources Group by 26.1% in the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 119,398 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,152,000 after purchasing an additional 24,733 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new position in MDU Resources Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $77,000. 71.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MDU. Siebert Williams Shank upgraded shares of MDU Resources Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $19.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on MDU Resources Group in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $18.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com cut MDU Resources Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Bank of America raised MDU Resources Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price target for the company from $31.00 to $17.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $21.00.

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.