Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 515,878 Shares of MDU Resources Group, Inc. (NYSE:MDU)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in MDU Resources Group, Inc. (NYSE:MDU) by 109.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 988,008 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 515,878 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.48% of MDU Resources Group worth $17,804,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in MDU Resources Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $2,234,000. Foundry Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of MDU Resources Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $4,594,000. Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in shares of MDU Resources Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $778,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in MDU Resources Group by 5.1% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,082,468 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $57,080,000 after acquiring an additional 101,955 shares during the period. Finally, Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in MDU Resources Group by 21.3% during the fourth quarter. Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 81,626 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,471,000 after acquiring an additional 14,360 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at MDU Resources Group

In other news, Director Dennis W. Johnson acquired 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $16.64 per share, for a total transaction of $499,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 180,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,997,962.24. The trade was a 19.98 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

MDU Resources Group Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of MDU Resources Group stock opened at $16.59 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.80. MDU Resources Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $14.91 and a 52-week high of $30.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.15. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $17.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.81.

MDU Resources Group (NYSE:MDU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.03. MDU Resources Group had a net margin of 7.31% and a return on equity of 10.20%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that MDU Resources Group, Inc. will post 0.94 EPS for the current year.

MDU Resources Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.14%. MDU Resources Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.68%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MDU shares. Siebert Williams Shank raised MDU Resources Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $19.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. 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 for the company. Bank of America raised shares of MDU Resources Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $31.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of MDU Resources Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $21.00.

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.