Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Raises Stake in MDU Resources Group, Inc. $MDU

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its position in shares of MDU Resources Group, Inc. (NYSE:MDU) by 35.4% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 685,347 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 179,357 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in MDU Resources Group were worth $12,206,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of MDU Resources Group by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,427,029 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $57,144,000 after acquiring an additional 8,754 shares in the last quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC lifted its stake in MDU Resources Group by 19.7% during the second quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC now owns 2,790,814 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $46,523,000 after purchasing an additional 460,180 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in MDU Resources Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $40,087,000. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. increased its stake in MDU Resources Group by 42.0% in the second quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 2,200,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,674,000 after purchasing an additional 651,136 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. raised its holdings in MDU Resources Group by 0.8% during the third quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 1,577,477 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,095,000 after purchasing an additional 11,895 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.44% of the company’s stock.

MDU Resources Group Stock Up 0.6%

MDU Resources Group stock opened at $21.04 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $20.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $18.72. MDU Resources Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $15.04 and a twelve month high of $21.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.35, a PEG ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

MDU Resources Group (NYSE:MDU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.02. MDU Resources Group had a return on equity of 6.81% and a net margin of 9.02%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.32 earnings per share. MDU Resources Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that MDU Resources Group, Inc. will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current year.

MDU Resources Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 11th were issued a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 11th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. MDU Resources Group’s payout ratio is presently 67.47%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on MDU shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of MDU Resources Group in a research report on Monday, December 29th. TD Cowen began coverage on MDU Resources Group in a report on Thursday, October 16th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $20.00 target price for the company. Zacks Research upgraded MDU Resources Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of MDU Resources Group in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on MDU Resources Group to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, MDU Resources Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $21.00.

MDU Resources Group Profile

MDU Resources Group, Inc is a diversified energy and services holding company headquartered in Bismarck, North Dakota. The company operates through two primary segments: Utilities and Construction Services and Pipelines & Midstream. Serving a broad geographic footprint across the upper Midwest and Pacific Northwest, MDU provides essential energy distribution and infrastructure services to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

The Utilities segment delivers electric and natural gas distribution services in Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Kansas, Wisconsin, Michigan and Washington.