River Road Asset Management LLC Makes New Investment in MDU Resources Group, Inc. $MDU

River Road Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MDU Resources Group, Inc. (NYSE:MDU) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 1,513,343 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $26,105,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Leuthold Group LLC boosted its stake in MDU Resources Group by 11.3% during the 2nd quarter. Leuthold Group LLC now owns 202,649 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,378,000 after purchasing an additional 20,553 shares during the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lifted its holdings in shares of MDU Resources Group by 5.1% during the second quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 705,576 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $11,762,000 after purchasing an additional 34,024 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of MDU Resources Group during the second quarter valued at $40,087,000. Capital Fund Management S.A. increased its holdings in MDU Resources Group by 43.7% in the 2nd quarter. Capital Fund Management S.A. now owns 198,837 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,315,000 after buying an additional 60,441 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC purchased a new position in MDU Resources Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $187,000. 71.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on MDU shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of MDU Resources Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of MDU Resources Group to $22.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Cowen assumed coverage on shares of MDU Resources Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded MDU Resources Group from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered MDU Resources Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, MDU Resources Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $21.00.

MDU Resources Group Trading Up 0.8%

MDU stock opened at $21.32 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.11, a PEG ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.73. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $19.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $17.64. MDU Resources Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $15.04 and a 1-year high of $21.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.71.

MDU Resources Group (NYSE:MDU) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.02. MDU Resources Group had a net margin of 8.25% and a return on equity of 8.29%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.32 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. MDU Resources Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 0.900-0.950 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that MDU Resources Group, Inc. will post 0.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MDU Resources Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 11th. MDU Resources Group’s payout ratio is currently 67.47%.

Insider Transactions at MDU Resources Group

In other news, CFO Jason L. Vollmer purchased 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $16.07 per share, for a total transaction of $80,350.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer owned 344,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,536,886.36. This trade represents a 1.47% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.94% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.