Dakota Wealth Management Sells 2,865 Shares of MDU Resources Group, Inc. (NYSE:MDU)

Dakota Wealth Management lessened its holdings in shares of MDU Resources Group, Inc. (NYSE:MDU) by 3.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 74,713 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,865 shares during the quarter. Dakota Wealth Management’s holdings in MDU Resources Group were worth $1,356,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MDU. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its stake in MDU Resources Group by 291.8% in the 4th quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 51,566 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $930,000 after acquiring an additional 38,406 shares during the last quarter. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in MDU Resources Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $494,000. Hennessy Advisors Inc. increased its stake in MDU Resources Group by 1,098.5% in the 4th quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 2,155,007 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $38,833,000 after acquiring an additional 1,975,200 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in MDU Resources Group by 42.2% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 115,907 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,089,000 after acquiring an additional 34,409 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in MDU Resources Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $778,000. Institutional investors own 71.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on MDU shares. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on MDU Resources Group in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $18.00 price objective on the stock. Siebert Williams Shank upgraded MDU Resources Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $19.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America upgraded MDU Resources Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $31.00 to $17.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on MDU Resources Group in a report on Friday, January 3rd. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, MDU Resources Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.00.

MDU Resources Group Price Performance

MDU opened at $18.09 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $18.67 and a 200 day moving average of $23.18. MDU Resources Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $14.91 and a 52-week 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. The stock has a market cap of $3.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.28, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.81.

MDU Resources Group (NYSE:MDU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.01. MDU Resources Group had a return on equity of 11.24% and a net margin of 8.92%. The company had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $969.17 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.29 EPS. MDU Resources Group’s revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that MDU Resources Group, Inc. will post 1.09 EPS for the current year.

MDU Resources Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 12th were given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 12th. MDU Resources Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.67%.

MDU Resources Group 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.