Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Buys Shares of 42,369 MDU Resources Group, Inc. (NYSE:MDU)

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in shares of MDU Resources Group, Inc. (NYSE:MDU) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 42,369 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $763,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of MDU Resources Group by 1.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,344,185 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $174,713,000 after purchasing an additional 114,719 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of MDU Resources Group by 1.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,719,543 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $101,978,000 after purchasing an additional 65,433 shares in the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of MDU Resources Group by 1,098.5% in the fourth quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 2,155,007 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $38,833,000 after purchasing an additional 1,975,200 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of MDU Resources Group by 18.6% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,114,019 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,926,000 after purchasing an additional 331,481 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of MDU Resources Group by 5.1% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,082,468 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $57,080,000 after purchasing an additional 101,955 shares in the last quarter. 71.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at MDU Resources Group

In other MDU Resources Group news, Director Dennis W. Johnson acquired 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $16.64 per share, for a total transaction of $499,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 180,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,997,962.24. This trade represents a 19.98 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

MDU Resources Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MDU opened at $17.25 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.15. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $17.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $21.58. MDU Resources Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $14.91 and a fifty-two week high of $30.52. The firm has a market cap of $3.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.80.

MDU Resources Group (NYSE:MDU) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.03. MDU Resources Group had a net margin of 7.31% and a return on equity of 10.20%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that MDU Resources Group, Inc. will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MDU Resources Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.01%. MDU Resources Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.68%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on MDU shares. Siebert Williams Shank raised shares of MDU Resources Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $19.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America raised shares of MDU Resources Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $31.00 to $17.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of MDU Resources Group in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $18.00 price objective for the company. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of MDU Resources Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $21.00.

MDU Resources Group 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.