HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC Makes New Investment in MDU Resources Group, Inc. $MDU

HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC bought a new position in MDU Resources Group, Inc. (NYSE:MDU) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 690,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $13,469,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in MDU Resources Group by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,828,483 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $465,132,000 after acquiring an additional 571,015 shares in the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC grew its stake in MDU Resources Group by 41.3% in the 4th quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 12,894,945 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $251,709,000 after acquiring an additional 3,766,737 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in MDU Resources Group by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 10,031,797 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $195,824,000 after acquiring an additional 267,700 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC grew its stake in MDU Resources Group by 678.2% in the 4th quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 9,946,196 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $194,150,000 after acquiring an additional 8,668,137 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of MDU Resources Group by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,415,233 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $66,687,000 after purchasing an additional 21,460 shares during the period. 71.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MDU Resources Group Price Performance

Shares of MDU opened at $21.09 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $21.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $20.84. MDU Resources Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $15.76 and a fifty-two week high of $22.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.32 billion, a PE ratio of 22.93, a PEG ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.78.

MDU Resources Group (NYSE:MDU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.42 by ($0.03). MDU Resources Group had a return on equity of 6.82% and a net margin of 10.47%.The business had revenue of $605.98 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $688.34 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.40 EPS. MDU Resources Group’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. MDU Resources Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.930-1.000 EPS. Equities analysts predict that MDU Resources Group, Inc. will post 0.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MDU Resources Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, June 11th will be given a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 11th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. MDU Resources Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 60.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MDU. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of MDU Resources Group in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $22.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MDU Resources Group in a research report on Friday, April 10th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of MDU Resources Group to $22.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Loop Capital set a $21.00 price target on shares of MDU Resources Group in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $21.75.

MDU Resources Group Company 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.