Hilltop National Bank Trims Position in MDU Resources Group, Inc. (NYSE:MDU)

Hilltop National Bank decreased its stake in MDU Resources Group, Inc. (NYSE:MDU) by 22.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,568 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 750 shares during the period. Hilltop National Bank’s holdings in MDU Resources Group were worth $46,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MDU. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC increased its position in MDU Resources Group by 40.9% in the second quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 6,048,344 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $151,813,000 after buying an additional 1,756,530 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in MDU Resources Group by 30.7% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,158,224 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $104,371,000 after buying an additional 977,487 shares in the last quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in MDU Resources Group in the second quarter worth about $24,372,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in MDU Resources Group by 8.1% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,491,990 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $188,049,000 after buying an additional 563,424 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in MDU Resources Group by 36.6% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,745,980 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $43,824,000 after buying an additional 467,465 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on MDU. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on MDU Resources Group in a research report on Wednesday. They issued a “hold” rating and a $18.00 price target for the company. Siebert Williams Shank raised MDU Resources Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $19.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America raised MDU Resources Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $31.00 to $17.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on MDU Resources Group in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.00.

MDU Resources Group Price Performance

Shares of MDU Resources Group stock opened at $17.74 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $18.52 and a 200 day moving average of $23.57. MDU Resources Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $14.91 and a 12 month high of $30.52. The firm has a market cap of $3.62 billion, a PE ratio of 9.10, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73.

MDU Resources Group (NYSE:MDU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.01. MDU Resources Group had a return on equity of 11.24% and a net margin of 8.92%. The company had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $969.17 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.29 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that MDU Resources Group, Inc. will post 1.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MDU Resources Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, December 12th were paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.93%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 12th. MDU Resources Group’s payout ratio is presently 26.67%.

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.