MDU Resources Group, Inc. $MDU Shares Acquired by Fifth Third Bancorp

Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in shares of MDU Resources Group, Inc. (NYSE:MDU) by 388.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 289,470 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 230,244 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in MDU Resources Group were worth $5,998,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Perpetual Ltd acquired a new position in shares of MDU Resources Group in the 4th quarter valued at $22,031,000. Comerica Bank increased its position in shares of MDU Resources Group by 22.3% during the 4th quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 243,107 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,745,000 after purchasing an additional 44,316 shares during the last quarter. Phocas Financial Corp. acquired a new stake in shares of MDU Resources Group during the 4th quarter worth about $4,102,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its holdings in MDU Resources Group by 490.5% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 294,629 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,751,000 after buying an additional 244,733 shares during the period. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in MDU Resources Group by 604.3% in the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 158,043 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,085,000 after buying an additional 135,602 shares during the period. 71.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on MDU. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of MDU Resources Group to $22.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of MDU Resources Group in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $22.00 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MDU Resources Group in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of MDU Resources Group in a research report on Monday. They set an “overweight” rating and a $25.00 price objective for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, MDU Resources Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $22.40.

MDU Resources Group Stock Performance

NYSE MDU opened at $21.10 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The company has a market cap of $4.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.93, a P/E/G ratio of 3.90 and a beta of 0.67. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $21.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of $21.04. MDU Resources Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $15.76 and a 1-year high of $22.98.

MDU Resources Group (NYSE:MDU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.42 by ($0.03). MDU Resources Group had a return on equity of 6.82% and a net margin of 10.47%.The business had revenue of $605.98 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $688.34 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.40 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. MDU Resources Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.930-1.000 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that MDU Resources Group, Inc. will post 0.98 EPS for the current year.

MDU Resources Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 11th were issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 11th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. MDU Resources Group’s dividend payout ratio is 60.87%.

MDU Resources Group Profile

MDU Resources Group, Inc is a diversified energy and services holding company headquartered in Bismarck, North Dakota. The company operates through two primary segments: Utilities and Construction Services and Pipelines & Midstream. Serving a broad geographic footprint across the upper Midwest and Pacific Northwest, MDU provides essential energy distribution and infrastructure services to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

The Utilities segment delivers electric and natural gas distribution services in Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Kansas, Wisconsin, Michigan and Washington.