Sanctuary Advisors LLC Invests $914,000 in MDU Resources Group, Inc. $MDU

Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in MDU Resources Group, Inc. (NYSE:MDU) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 43,102 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $914,000.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of MDU Resources Group during the 2nd quarter worth $580,127,000. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC bought a new position in MDU Resources Group in the 2nd quarter worth $276,933,000. Earnest Partners LLC raised its holdings in MDU Resources Group by 678.2% in the 4th quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 9,946,196 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $194,150,000 after purchasing an additional 8,668,137 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in MDU Resources Group by 2,442.7% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 4,436,521 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $86,601,000 after purchasing an additional 4,262,042 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in MDU Resources Group during the fourth quarter valued at $59,617,000. 71.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MDU Resources Group Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of MDU stock opened at $20.14 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.99. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $20.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $21.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.12 billion, a PE ratio of 21.20, a PEG ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.67. MDU Resources Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $15.76 and a 52-week high of $22.98.

MDU Resources Group (NYSE:MDU) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.10 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $375.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $396.56 million. MDU Resources Group had a return on equity of 6.89% and a net margin of 10.75%.The business’s revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.07 earnings per share. MDU Resources Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.930-1.000 EPS. On average, analysts predict that MDU Resources Group, Inc. will post 0.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MDU Resources Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, September 10th will be issued a $0.145 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 10th. This represents a $0.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. This is a boost from MDU Resources Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. MDU Resources Group’s payout ratio is presently 58.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MDU has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MDU Resources Group in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on MDU Resources Group in a research report on Monday, July 13th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $25.00 price objective on the stock. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on MDU Resources Group to $22.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of MDU Resources Group from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $27.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $23.40.

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.