MDU Resources Group, Inc. (NYSE:MDU) Shares Purchased by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of MDU Resources Group, Inc. (NYSE:MDU) by 42.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 115,907 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 34,409 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned approximately 0.06% of MDU Resources Group worth $2,089,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MDU. State Street Corp boosted its position in MDU Resources Group by 1.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,344,185 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $174,713,000 after purchasing an additional 114,719 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of MDU Resources Group by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,719,543 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $101,978,000 after buying an additional 65,433 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of MDU Resources Group by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,082,468 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $57,080,000 after buying an additional 101,955 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in MDU Resources Group by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,782,538 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $48,859,000 after acquiring an additional 33,982 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in MDU Resources Group by 36.6% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,745,980 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $43,824,000 after acquiring an additional 467,465 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of MDU Resources Group in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. They set a “hold” rating and a $18.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America raised shares of MDU Resources Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $31.00 to $17.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com began coverage on MDU Resources Group in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Siebert Williams Shank upgraded MDU Resources Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $19.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $21.00.

MDU Resources Group Price Performance

MDU Resources Group stock opened at $18.21 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $18.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $23.22. MDU Resources Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $14.91 and a 12-month high of $30.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The stock has a market cap of $3.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.34, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.81.

MDU Resources Group (NYSE:MDU) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business posted $0.29 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that MDU Resources Group, Inc. will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current year.

MDU Resources Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, December 12th were issued a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 12th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.86%. MDU Resources Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.