Bleakley Financial Group LLC Sells 57,827 Shares of MDU Resources Group, Inc. (NYSE:MDU)

Bleakley Financial Group LLC lowered its holdings in shares of MDU Resources Group, Inc. (NYSE:MDU) by 34.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 111,436 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 57,827 shares during the quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC owned about 0.05% of MDU Resources Group worth $2,008,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings in MDU Resources Group by 23.9% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,142 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 413 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp bought a new position in shares of MDU Resources Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $218,000. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in MDU Resources Group by 47.4% in the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 50,114 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,258,000 after purchasing an additional 16,125 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its position in MDU Resources Group by 7.4% during the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 15,019 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $412,000 after purchasing an additional 1,033 shares during the period. Finally, Wesbanco Bank Inc. acquired a new position in MDU Resources Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $210,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.44% of the company’s stock.

MDU Resources Group Stock Performance

NYSE:MDU opened at $16.57 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $18.33 and its 200-day moving average is $22.61. The company has a market cap of $3.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.50, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.15. MDU Resources Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $14.91 and a 52-week high of $30.52.

MDU Resources Group (NYSE:MDU) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.03. MDU Resources Group had a return on equity of 11.24% and a net margin of 8.92%. Equities research analysts anticipate that MDU Resources Group, Inc. will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current year.

MDU Resources Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, December 12th were paid a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 12th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.14%. MDU Resources Group’s payout ratio is 26.67%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MDU. Bank of America upgraded 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. Siebert Williams Shank upgraded shares of MDU Resources Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $19.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on MDU Resources Group in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $18.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com lowered MDU Resources Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, MDU Resources Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $21.00.

MDU Resources Group Company 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.