StockNews.com Begins Coverage on MDU Resources Group (NYSE:MDU)

Research analysts at StockNews.com began coverage on shares of MDU Resources Group (NYSE:MDU – Get Rating) in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday. The brokerage set a “buy” rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

MDU Resources Group Stock Down 0.6 %

MDU opened at $29.66 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $29.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $30.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.75. MDU Resources Group has a 12 month low of $25.21 and a 12 month high of $32.53.

MDU Resources Group (NYSE:MDU – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.03. MDU Resources Group had a return on equity of 11.25% and a net margin of 5.13%. The firm had revenue of $1.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.38 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.16 EPS. MDU Resources Group’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that MDU Resources Group will post 2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MDU Resources Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MDU. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in MDU Resources Group by 1.0% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,677,094 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $592,868,000 after acquiring an additional 218,558 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in MDU Resources Group by 12.5% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 15,468,160 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $415,454,000 after acquiring an additional 1,716,930 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in MDU Resources Group by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,255,578 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $159,457,000 after acquiring an additional 149,872 shares during the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC boosted its holdings in MDU Resources Group by 2.9% in the first quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 3,306,395 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $100,779,000 after acquiring an additional 92,011 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its holdings in MDU Resources Group by 32.9% in the first quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,301,805 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $100,639,000 after acquiring an additional 817,621 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.83% of the company’s stock.

MDU Resources Group Company Profile

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MDU Resources Group, Inc engages in the provision of natural resource products and related services to energy and transportation infrastructure. It operates through the following business segments: Electric, Natural Gas Distribution, Pipeline and Midstream, Construction Materials and Contracting, Construction Services, and Other.