MDU Resources Group (NYSE:MDU) Stock Price Crosses Above 50-Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

MDU Resources Group, Inc. (NYSE:MDU) crossed above its fifty day moving average during trading on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $19.06 and traded as high as $19.39. MDU Resources Group shares last traded at $19.2560, with a volume of 2,188,551 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on MDU Resources Group in a research note on Monday, July 13th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $25.00 price target on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of MDU Resources Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of MDU Resources Group from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of MDU Resources Group from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $27.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $23.75.

MDU Resources Group Trading Up 3.4%

The company has a 50 day moving average of $19.06 and a 200-day moving average of $20.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.99. The stock has a market cap of $3.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.66 and a beta of 0.66.

MDU Resources Group (NYSE:MDU) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.10 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $347.75 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $346.63 million. MDU Resources Group had a net margin of 10.75% and a return on equity of 6.89%. The business’s revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.09 earnings per share. MDU Resources Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.930-1.000 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that MDU Resources Group, Inc. will post 0.98 earnings per share for the current year.

MDU Resources Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 10th were paid a $0.1450 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 10th. This is a positive change from MDU Resources Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. This represents a $0.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. MDU Resources Group’s payout ratio is 62.37%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MDU. Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MDU Resources Group during the 2nd quarter worth $1,727,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its stake in MDU Resources Group by 16.2% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 197,571 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,190,000 after buying an additional 27,517 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new stake in MDU Resources Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $8,547,000. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its holdings in MDU Resources Group by 40.6% during the 3rd quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 2,126,689 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,429,000 after buying an additional 614,482 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new position in shares of MDU Resources Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,237,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.44% of the company’s stock.

About MDU Resources Group

MDU Resources Group is an energy delivery company that provides regulated electric and natural gas service and operates natural gas transmission infrastructure. Its utility businesses serve residential, commercial, industrial and other customers across parts of the northwestern and north-central United States.

The company’s service area includes Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Idaho, Oregon, Washington and Minnesota. Its natural gas pipeline operations transport and store gas, supporting the delivery of energy to customers and communities.

Founded in 1924, MDU Resources has evolved from a regional utility into a multi-state energy company.