Analyzing MDU Resources Group (NYSE:MDU) & Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (NYSE:BIP)

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (NYSE:BIP) and MDU Resources Group (NYSE:MDU) are both utilities companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, analyst recommendations, risk, earnings, institutional ownership, profitability and dividends.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

57.9% of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 71.4% of MDU Resources Group shares are held by institutional investors. 0.5% of MDU Resources Group shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners pays an annual dividend of $1.82 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.8%. MDU Resources Group pays an annual dividend of $0.58 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners pays out 293.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. MDU Resources Group pays out 61.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners has raised its dividend for 18 consecutive years and MDU Resources Group has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Brookfield Infrastructure Partners and MDU Resources Group, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Brookfield Infrastructure Partners	0	2	8	0	2.80
MDU Resources Group	0	4	2	0	2.33

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners presently has a consensus target price of $45.75, indicating a potential upside of 20.08%. MDU Resources Group has a consensus target price of $23.75, indicating a potential upside of 19.82%. Given Brookfield Infrastructure Partners’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Brookfield Infrastructure Partners is more favorable than MDU Resources Group.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Brookfield Infrastructure Partners and MDU Resources Group”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Brookfield Infrastructure Partners	$23.10 billion	0.75	$771.00 million	$0.62	61.45
MDU Resources Group	$1.88 billion	2.16	$190.40 million	$0.95	20.86

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners has higher revenue and earnings than MDU Resources Group. MDU Resources Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Brookfield Infrastructure Partners, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility and Risk

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners has a beta of 1.06, meaning that its share price is 6% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, MDU Resources Group has a beta of 0.66, meaning that its share price is 34% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Brookfield Infrastructure Partners and MDU Resources Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Brookfield Infrastructure Partners	3.51%	2.63%	0.71%
MDU Resources Group	10.75%	6.89%	2.58%

Summary

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners beats MDU Resources Group on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Brookfield Infrastructure Partners

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. owns and operates utilities, transport, midstream, and data businesses in North and South America, Europe, and the Asia Pacific. The company's Utilities segment operates approximately 2,900 km of electricity transmission lines; 4,200 km of natural gas pipelines; 8.1 million electricity and natural gas connections; and 0.6 million long-term contracted sub-metering services. This segment also offers heating, cooling, and energy solutions; gas distribution; water heaters; and heating, ventilation, and air conditioner rental, as well as other home services. Its Transport segment offers transportation, storage, and handling services for merchandise goods, commodities, and passengers through a network of approximately 22,000 km of track; 5,500 km of track network; 9,800 km of rail; and 3,300 km of motorways. The company's Midstream segment offers natural gas transmission, gathering and processing, and storage services through approximately 15,000 km of natural gas transmission pipelines; 570 billion cubic feet of natural gas storage; 17 natural gas processing plants; and 10,600 km of gas gathering pipelines, as well as 525,000 tonnes polypropylene production capacity. Its Data segment operates approximately 228,000 operational telecom towers; approximately 54,000 kilometers of fiber optic cables; approximately 1 million fiber-to-the-premise connections; two semiconductor manufacturing facilities; and 70 distributed antenna systems, as well as 135 data centers and 750 megawatts of critical load capacity and an additional approximate 670 megawatts of contracted capacity. The company was incorporated in 2007 and is based in Hamilton, Bermuda. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. operates as a subsidiary of Brookfield Corporation.

About MDU Resources Group

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. The Natural Gas Distribution segment distributes natural gas for residential, commercial, and industrial customers in Idaho, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Washington, and Wyoming; and supplies related value-added services. The Pipeline segment provides natural gas transportation and underground storage services through a regulated pipeline system primarily in the Rocky Mountain and northern Great Plains regions; and cathodic protection and other energy-related services. The Construction Services segment offers electrical and mechanical contracting services, including the construction and maintenance of electrical and communication wiring and infrastructure, fire suppression systems, mechanical piping, and services; transmission and distribution contracting services, comprise construction and maintenance of overhead and underground electrical, and gas and communication infrastructure; and manufactures and supplies transmission and distribution lines construction equipment and tools. It serves manufacturing, commercial, industrial, transportation, institutional, and renewable and government customers, as well as utilities. MDU Resources Group, Inc. was incorporated in 1924 and is headquartered in Bismarck, North Dakota.