Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 3,500 Shares of MDU Resources Group, Inc. (NYSE:MDU)

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of MDU Resources Group, Inc. (NYSE:MDU) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 747,566 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 3,500 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.37% of MDU Resources Group worth $14,802,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MDU. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 858,100 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 1,174,799 shares during the last quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 972,540 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of MDU Resources Group by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,918,944 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,995,000 after purchasing an additional 55,169 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of MDU Resources Group by 24.8% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,775,161 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,148,000 after purchasing an additional 352,540 shares during the last quarter. 71.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

MDU Resources Group Price Performance

Shares of MDU opened at $25.20 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $5.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.77, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.78. MDU Resources Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $18.04 and a 1-year high of $25.99. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $24.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.51. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78.

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

MDU Resources Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $0.125 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 13th. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.98%. MDU Resources Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.37%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Rob L. Johnson acquired 36,291 shares of MDU Resources Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $25.46 per share, with a total value of $923,968.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 41,934 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,067,639.64. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MDU has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of MDU Resources Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Argus upgraded shares of MDU Resources Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday.

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.