Rob L. Johnson Purchases 36,291 Shares of MDU Resources Group, Inc. (NYSE:MDU) Stock

MDU Resources Group, Inc. (NYSE:MDU) insider Rob L. Johnson purchased 36,291 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $25.46 per share, for a total transaction of $923,968.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 41,934 shares in the company, valued at $1,067,639.64. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

MDU Resources Group Price Performance

NYSE MDU opened at $25.55 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $23.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $21.04. MDU Resources Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $18.04 and a 52-week high of $25.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.43. The stock has a market cap of $5.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.92, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.78.

MDU Resources Group (NYSE:MDU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.33 billion. MDU Resources Group had a net margin of 10.74% and a return on equity of 11.42%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.23 EPS. Analysts anticipate that MDU Resources Group, Inc. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MDU Resources Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.125 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.96%. MDU Resources Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.37%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MDU Resources Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of MDU Resources Group by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,181,092 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $122,386,000 after buying an additional 858,100 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of MDU Resources Group by 48.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,585,707 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $70,208,000 after buying an additional 1,174,799 shares in the last quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of MDU Resources Group by 49.6% in the fourth quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 2,931,590 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $58,045,000 after buying an additional 972,540 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of MDU Resources Group by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,561,113 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $50,710,000 after buying an additional 44,067 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC lifted its holdings in MDU Resources Group by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC now owns 2,141,514 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,402,000 after purchasing an additional 67,273 shares during the last quarter. 71.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded shares of MDU Resources Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd.

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.