Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Buys Shares of 24,893 MDU Resources Group, Inc. $MDU

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in MDU Resources Group, Inc. (NYSE:MDU) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 24,893 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $486,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MDU. GoalVest Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in MDU Resources Group in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in MDU Resources Group in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in MDU Resources Group by 94.5% in the second quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,647 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its holdings in MDU Resources Group by 6,404.3% in the third quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,496 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 1,473 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its holdings in MDU Resources Group by 13,185.7% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,860 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 1,846 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.44% of the company’s stock.

MDU Resources Group Trading Down 2.2%

MDU Resources Group stock opened at $21.08 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. MDU Resources Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $15.76 and a 52 week high of $22.98. The company has a market capitalization of $4.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.90 and a beta of 0.70. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $21.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $20.82.

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

MDU Resources Group Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

MDU Resources Group Company 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.