American Century Companies Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in MDU Resources Group, Inc. (NYSE:MDU)

American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in MDU Resources Group, Inc. (NYSE:MDU) by 30.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,158,224 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 977,487 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned 2.04% of MDU Resources Group worth $104,371,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in MDU. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in MDU Resources Group during the second quarter valued at $27,000. TFO Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of MDU Resources Group by 16,070.0% during the fourth quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,617 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 1,607 shares in the last quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp lifted its stake in MDU Resources Group by 22.2% in the 1st quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 4,404 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $111,000 after buying an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in MDU Resources Group by 32.9% in the 1st quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC now owns 5,920 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $149,000 after buying an additional 1,465 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in MDU Resources Group by 129.3% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 8,977 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $178,000 after buying an additional 5,062 shares during the last quarter. 71.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com downgraded MDU Resources Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Argus raised shares of MDU Resources Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 20th.

MDU Resources Group Stock Up 7.1 %

MDU stock opened at $27.40 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $25.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $24.74. MDU Resources Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $18.04 and a 12 month high of $27.75. The company has a market cap of $5.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.71, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.77.

MDU Resources Group (NYSE:MDU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.06 billion. MDU Resources Group had a return on equity of 11.29% and a net margin of 9.25%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.29 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that MDU Resources Group, Inc. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MDU Resources Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 12th. This is a positive change from MDU Resources Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. MDU Resources Group’s payout ratio is currently 21.37%.

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.