Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Makes New $486,000 Investment in MDU Resources Group, Inc. $MDU

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in MDU Resources Group, Inc. (NYSE:MDU) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 24,893 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $486,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MDU. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of MDU Resources Group by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,828,483 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $465,132,000 after buying an additional 571,015 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of MDU Resources Group by 3.6% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,764,097 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $173,898,000 after buying an additional 339,573 shares during the period. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC increased its stake in shares of MDU Resources Group by 4.0% during the third quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 9,128,208 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $162,573,000 after buying an additional 348,762 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. increased its stake in shares of MDU Resources Group by 42.0% during 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 buying an additional 651,136 shares during the period. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in shares of MDU Resources Group by 2.3% during the third quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 1,568,787 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,940,000 after buying an additional 35,688 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.44% of the company’s stock.

MDU Resources Group Price Performance

MDU opened at $21.08 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $21.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $20.82. MDU Resources Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $15.76 and a 1 year high of $22.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.31 billion, a PE ratio of 22.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.90 and a beta of 0.70.

MDU Resources Group (NYSE:MDU) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.42 by ($0.03). MDU Resources Group had a net margin of 10.47% and a return on equity of 6.82%. The company had revenue of $605.98 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $688.34 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.40 EPS. MDU Resources Group’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. MDU Resources Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.930-1.000 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that MDU Resources Group, Inc. will post 0.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MDU Resources Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 11th will be paid a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 11th. MDU Resources Group’s payout ratio is 60.87%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on MDU Resources Group in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $22.00 price target on the stock. Loop Capital set a $21.00 price target on MDU Resources Group in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MDU Resources Group in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price target on MDU Resources Group to $22.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $21.75.

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.