Reviewing Energy Fuels (NYSE:UUUU) & MDU Resources Group (NYSE:MDU)

MDU Resources Group (NYSE:MDU) and Energy Fuels (NYSE:UUUU) are both utilities companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, institutional ownership, valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings and profitability.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for MDU Resources Group and Energy Fuels, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
MDU Resources Group	0	0	3	0	3.00
Energy Fuels	0	2	2	0	2.50

MDU Resources Group currently has a consensus target price of $22.00, indicating a potential upside of 20.55%. Energy Fuels has a consensus target price of $8.50, indicating a potential upside of 58.88%. Given Energy Fuels’ higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Energy Fuels is more favorable than MDU Resources Group.

Risk & Volatility

MDU Resources Group has a beta of 0.79, meaning that its share price is 21% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Energy Fuels has a beta of 1.64, meaning that its share price is 64% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares MDU Resources Group and Energy Fuels’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
MDU Resources Group	8.92%	11.24%	4.23%
Energy Fuels	-90.40%	-9.16%	-8.67%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

71.4% of MDU Resources Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 48.2% of Energy Fuels shares are held by institutional investors. 0.6% of MDU Resources Group shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.9% of Energy Fuels shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares MDU Resources Group and Energy Fuels”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
MDU Resources Group	$4.45 billion	0.84	$414.71 million	$1.95	9.36
Energy Fuels	$38.66 million	27.21	$99.86 million	($0.22)	-24.32

MDU Resources Group has higher revenue and earnings than Energy Fuels. Energy Fuels is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than MDU Resources Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

MDU Resources Group beats Energy Fuels on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

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. The Natural Gas Distribution segment distributes natural gas for residential, commercial, and industrial customers in Idaho, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Washington, and Wyoming; and supplies related value-added services. The Pipeline segment provides natural gas transportation and underground storage services through a regulated pipeline system primarily in the Rocky Mountain and northern Great Plains regions; and cathodic protection and other energy-related services. The Construction Services segment offers electrical and mechanical contracting services, including the construction and maintenance of electrical and communication wiring and infrastructure, fire suppression systems, mechanical piping, and services; transmission and distribution contracting services, comprise construction and maintenance of overhead and underground electrical, and gas and communication infrastructure; and manufactures and supplies transmission and distribution lines construction equipment and tools. It serves manufacturing, commercial, industrial, transportation, institutional, and renewable and government customers, as well as utilities. MDU Resources Group, Inc. was incorporated in 1924 and is headquartered in Bismarck, North Dakota.

About Energy Fuels

Energy Fuels Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the extraction, recovery, recycling, exploration, permitting, evaluation, and sale of uranium mineral properties in the United States. The company produces and sells vanadium pentoxide, rare earth elements, and heavy mineral sands, such as ilmenite, rutile, zircon, and monazite. The company was formerly known as Volcanic Metals Exploration Inc. and changed its name to Energy Fuels Inc. in May 2006. Energy Fuels Inc. was incorporated in 1987 and is headquartered in Lakewood, Colorado.