Quantinno Capital Management LP Grows Position in MDU Resources Group, Inc. (NYSE:MDU)

Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its holdings in shares of MDU Resources Group, Inc. (NYSE:MDU - Free Report) by 60.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 86,459 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 32,410 shares during the quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP's holdings in MDU Resources Group were worth $1,558,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Nuveen Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of MDU Resources Group by 41.0% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 761,393 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $13,720,000 after buying an additional 221,275 shares in the last quarter. Maven Securities LTD acquired a new position in MDU Resources Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $180,000. Needham Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of MDU Resources Group by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. Needham Investment Management LLC now owns 461,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $8,307,000 after purchasing an additional 33,500 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in MDU Resources Group by 102.3% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 661,881 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $11,927,000 after buying an additional 334,713 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in MDU Resources Group by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 1,400,575 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $25,238,000 after buying an additional 76,264 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.44% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Wall Street Zen upgraded MDU Resources Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th.

MDU Resources Group Stock Down 2.2%

Shares of MDU traded down $0.37 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $16.82. The stock had a trading volume of 160,094 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,433,749. The company has a market cap of $3.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.21, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.72. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $16.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $17.58. MDU Resources Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $13.23 and a 1-year high of $20.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 1.07.

MDU Resources Group (NYSE:MDU - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $674.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $653.13 million. MDU Resources Group had a return on equity of 10.20% and a net margin of 7.31%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 14.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.52 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that MDU Resources Group, Inc. will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current year.

MDU Resources Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 12th will be issued a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.09%. MDU Resources Group's payout ratio is 40.31%.

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.