MDU Resources Group, Inc. $MDU Stock: Hennessy Advisors Inc. Raises Holdings

Key Points

• Hennessy Advisors significantly increased its MDU Resources position by 1,840.7% in the third quarter, owning 3.49 million shares valued at approximately $64.7 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 71.44% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed: JPMorgan and Wells Fargo assigned or maintained “overweight” ratings, while the overall consensus is “Hold” with an average price target of $23.75.
• MDU reported quarterly EPS of $0.10, slightly above estimates, while revenue missed expectations. The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.145 per share, representing a 2.9% annualized yield.

Hennessy Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of MDU Resources Group, Inc. (NYSE:MDU - Free Report) by 1,840.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,487,504 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,307,797 shares during the period. MDU Resources Group accounts for approximately 2.4% of Hennessy Advisors Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Hennessy Advisors Inc. owned approximately 1.70% of MDU Resources Group worth $64,658,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Arkadios Wealth Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of MDU Resources Group by 1.7% in the first quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 27,316 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $566,000 after acquiring an additional 449 shares during the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its holdings in MDU Resources Group by 40.4% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 2,101 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 605 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its stake in MDU Resources Group by 0.9% in the first quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 70,442 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,460,000 after acquiring an additional 612 shares during the period. BOKF NA increased its holdings in shares of MDU Resources Group by 0.5% during the third quarter. BOKF NA now owns 114,975 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,132,000 after acquiring an additional 625 shares in the last quarter. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its holdings in shares of MDU Resources Group by 0.9% during the first quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 77,537 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,607,000 after acquiring an additional 658 shares in the last quarter. 71.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MDU. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised MDU Resources Group from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $27.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of MDU Resources Group from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on MDU Resources Group in a report on Monday, July 13th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $25.00 price target on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MDU Resources Group currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $23.75.

MDU Resources Group Price Performance

MDU stock opened at $19.72 on Monday. MDU Resources Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $18.24 and a twelve month high of $22.98. The stock has a market cap of $4.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.76, a PEG ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.66. The business's 50-day moving average price is $19.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $20.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88.

MDU Resources Group (NYSE:MDU - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.10 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $375.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $396.56 million. MDU Resources Group had a return on equity of 6.89% and a net margin of 10.75%. The firm's revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.07 EPS. MDU Resources Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.930-1.000 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that MDU Resources Group, Inc. will post 0.98 EPS for the current year.

MDU Resources Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, September 10th were paid a dividend of $0.1450 per share. This is a boost from MDU Resources Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 10th. This represents a $0.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. MDU Resources Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.05%.

MDU Resources Group Profile

MDU Resources Group, Inc is a regulated energy delivery company headquartered in Bismarck, North Dakota. Through its utility and pipeline businesses, the company provides electric and natural gas services to residential, commercial, industrial and institutional customers.

Montana-Dakota Utilities operates electric generation, transmission and distribution systems, as well as natural gas distribution networks, across parts of North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana and Wyoming. Great Plains Natural Gas provides natural gas service in portions of Minnesota.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.