Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. Invests $26.10 Million in MDU Resources Group, Inc. $MDU

Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new position in shares of MDU Resources Group, Inc. (NYSE:MDU) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 1,565,582 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $26,098,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position in MDU Resources Group by 179.0% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,518 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 974 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in MDU Resources Group by 241.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,843 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 1,304 shares during the period. Hilltop National Bank acquired a new position in MDU Resources Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $43,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in MDU Resources Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $48,000. Finally, Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new position in MDU Resources Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $82,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MDU. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded MDU Resources Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $20.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Weiss Ratings upgraded MDU Resources Group from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut MDU Resources Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $18.67.

MDU Resources Group Stock Performance

Shares of MDU stock opened at $19.19 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $3.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.70. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $16.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $16.85. MDU Resources Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $14.91 and a 12-month high of $30.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75.

MDU Resources Group (NYSE:MDU) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.13 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $351.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $315.67 million. MDU Resources Group had a return on equity of 8.29% and a net margin of 8.25%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.32 earnings per share. MDU Resources Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 0.880-0.950 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that MDU Resources Group, Inc. will post 0.94 EPS for the current year.

MDU Resources Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 11th were paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. This is a positive change from MDU Resources Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 11th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. MDU Resources Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.83%.

Insider Activity

In other MDU Resources Group news, CFO Jason L. Vollmer bought 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $16.07 per share, with a total value of $80,350.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer owned 344,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,536,886.36. This represents a 1.47% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

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.