Bank of America Reaffirms Neutral Rating for MDU Resources Group (NYSE:MDU)

MDU Resources Group (NYSE:MDU)‘s stock had its “neutral” rating reaffirmed by investment analysts at Bank of America in a report issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $31.00 price target on the utilities provider’s stock, up from their prior price target of $30.00. Bank of America‘s target price points to a potential upside of 2.38% from the stock’s previous close.

Separately, StockNews.com assumed coverage on MDU Resources Group in a research note on Sunday. They set a “hold” rating for the company.

MDU Resources Group Trading Up 4.0 %

Shares of MDU stock opened at $30.28 on Monday. MDU Resources Group has a twelve month low of $18.04 and a twelve month high of $30.52. The stock has a market cap of $6.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.94, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.77. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $26.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $25.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73.

MDU Resources Group (NYSE:MDU) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.06 billion. MDU Resources Group had a net margin of 9.25% and a return on equity of 11.29%. MDU Resources Group’s revenue was down 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.29 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that MDU Resources Group will post 1.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MDU Resources Group

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MDU. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC raised its position in MDU Resources Group by 40.9% in the second quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 6,048,344 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $151,813,000 after purchasing an additional 1,756,530 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in MDU Resources Group by 30.7% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,158,224 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $104,371,000 after acquiring an additional 977,487 shares in the last quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in MDU Resources Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $24,372,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in MDU Resources Group by 8.1% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,491,990 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $188,049,000 after acquiring an additional 563,424 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in MDU Resources Group by 36.6% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,745,980 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $43,824,000 after purchasing an additional 467,465 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.44% of the company’s stock.

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.