Quest Partners LLC Takes $83,000 Position in MDU Resources Group, Inc. (NYSE:MDU)

Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of MDU Resources Group, Inc. (NYSE:MDU) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 3,014 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $83,000.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in shares of MDU Resources Group by 23.9% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,142 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 413 shares during the last quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of MDU Resources Group by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 34,869 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $875,000 after purchasing an additional 606 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of MDU Resources Group by 158.9% during the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,196 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 734 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its position in shares of MDU Resources Group by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 24,264 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $609,000 after purchasing an additional 817 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of MDU Resources Group by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 169,263 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,640,000 after purchasing an additional 868 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.44% of the company’s stock.

MDU Resources Group Price Performance

Shares of MDU stock opened at $20.06 on Friday. MDU Resources Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $14.91 and a twelve month high of $30.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.76. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $24.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $24.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73.

MDU Resources Group (NYSE:MDU) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $969.17 million. MDU Resources Group had a return on equity of 11.24% and a net margin of 8.92%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.29 EPS. On average, analysts predict that MDU Resources Group, Inc. will post 1.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MDU Resources Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 12th will be paid a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 12th. MDU Resources Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.67%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MDU has been the topic of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com initiated coverage on MDU Resources Group in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Siebert Williams Shank raised MDU Resources Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $19.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Bank of America raised MDU Resources Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $31.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th.

MDU Resources Group Company 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.