MDU Resources Group, Inc. (NYSE:MDU) Plans $0.13 Quarterly Dividend

MDU Resources Group, Inc. (NYSE:MDU) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 13th,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of 0.13 per share by the utilities provider on Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.08%.

MDU Resources Group has decreased its dividend by an average of 15.8% annually over the last three years. MDU Resources Group has a payout ratio of 50.5% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect MDU Resources Group to earn $1.12 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.52 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 46.4%.

MDU Resources Group Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of MDU stock traded up $0.07 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $16.90. The company had a trading volume of 1,382,747 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,088,036. The company has a market capitalization of $3.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 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 has a twelve month low of $14.91 and a twelve month high of $30.52. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $18.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $22.30.

MDU Resources Group (NYSE:MDU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.03. MDU Resources Group had a net margin of 7.31% and a return on equity of 10.20%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that MDU Resources Group will post 0.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on MDU shares. Siebert Williams Shank raised MDU Resources Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $19.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. StockNews.com downgraded MDU Resources Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Bank of America upgraded shares of MDU Resources Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $31.00 to $17.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of MDU Resources Group in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. They set a “hold” rating and a $18.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $21.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Dennis W. Johnson bought 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $16.64 per share, with a total value of $499,200.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 180,166 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,997,962.24. This trade represents a 19.98 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

About MDU Resources Group

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.