Hilltop National Bank Lowers Position in MDU Resources Group, Inc. (NYSE:MDU)

Hilltop National Bank reduced its stake in MDU Resources Group, Inc. (NYSE:MDU) by 22.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,568 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 750 shares during the quarter. Hilltop National Bank’s holdings in MDU Resources Group were worth $46,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MDU. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC raised its position in MDU Resources Group by 40.9% in the 2nd quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 6,048,344 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $151,813,000 after buying an additional 1,756,530 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of MDU Resources Group by 30.7% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,158,224 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $104,371,000 after purchasing an additional 977,487 shares during the last quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MDU Resources Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $24,372,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of MDU Resources Group by 8.1% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,491,990 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $188,049,000 after purchasing an additional 563,424 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of MDU Resources Group by 36.6% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,745,980 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $43,824,000 after acquiring an additional 467,465 shares during the period. 71.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MDU. Siebert Williams Shank upgraded MDU Resources Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $19.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on MDU Resources Group in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on MDU Resources Group in a research note on Wednesday. They issued a “hold” rating and a $18.00 target price for the company. Finally, Bank of America upgraded MDU Resources Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $31.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, MDU Resources Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.00.

MDU Resources Group Trading Down 1.7 %

NYSE MDU opened at $17.74 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $18.52 and its 200 day moving average is $23.57. MDU Resources Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $14.91 and a twelve month high of $30.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.62 billion, a PE ratio of 9.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.81.

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

MDU Resources Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, December 12th were given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 12th. MDU Resources Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.67%.

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.