43,325 Shares in MDU Resources Group, Inc. $MDU Acquired by Sanctuary Advisors LLC

Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in MDU Resources Group, Inc. (NYSE:MDU) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 43,325 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $846,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in MDU Resources Group by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,828,483 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $465,132,000 after acquiring an additional 571,015 shares during the period. CPC Advisors LLC lifted its stake in MDU Resources Group by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. CPC Advisors LLC now owns 140,351 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,740,000 after acquiring an additional 8,860 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH lifted its stake in MDU Resources Group by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 16,577 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $324,000 after acquiring an additional 652 shares during the period. Hudson Value Partners LLC lifted its stake in MDU Resources Group by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC now owns 341,046 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,723,000 after acquiring an additional 2,025 shares during the period. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in MDU Resources Group by 12.5% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 73,825 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,441,000 after acquiring an additional 8,199 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.44% of the company’s stock.

MDU Resources Group Stock Performance

Shares of MDU stock opened at $22.33 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $4.57 billion, a PE ratio of 24.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.14 and a beta of 0.70. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $21.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $20.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. MDU Resources Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $15.76 and a 52-week high of $22.83.

MDU Resources Group (NYSE:MDU) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.37. The business had revenue of $534.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $560.72 million. MDU Resources Group had a return on equity of 6.98% and a net margin of 10.15%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.90 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that MDU Resources Group, Inc. will post 0.98 EPS for the current year.

MDU Resources Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 12th were issued a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 12th. MDU Resources Group’s payout ratio is 60.22%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Charles M. Kelley acquired 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $20.84 per share, with a total value of $104,200.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 8,031 shares in the company, valued at $167,366.04. This represents a 164.96% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on MDU shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of MDU Resources Group in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $22.00 price objective for the company. Loop Capital set a $21.00 price objective on MDU Resources Group in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MDU Resources Group in a report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of MDU Resources Group in a report on Thursday, January 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $21.25.

About MDU Resources Group

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.