Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC Has $38.15 Million Stock Position in MDU Resources Group, Inc. (NYSE:MDU)

Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC trimmed its stake in shares of MDU Resources Group, Inc. (NYSE:MDU - Free Report) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,116,940 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 17,914 shares during the quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC owned about 1.04% of MDU Resources Group worth $38,147,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Friedenthal Financial acquired a new stake in MDU Resources Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $778,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in MDU Resources Group by 42.2% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 115,907 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,089,000 after acquiring an additional 34,409 shares during the period. Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in MDU Resources Group by 21.3% in the 4th quarter. Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 81,626 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,471,000 after acquiring an additional 14,360 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in MDU Resources Group by 32.3% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 855,493 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $23,449,000 after acquiring an additional 209,042 shares during the period. Finally, Advisors Preferred LLC acquired a new stake in MDU Resources Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $5,691,000. 71.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com cut MDU Resources Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $21.00.

MDU Resources Group Price Performance

NYSE MDU traded down $0.14 on Friday, reaching $17.36. 1,369,450 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,471,817. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $16.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $17.97. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The company has a market cap of $3.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.72. MDU Resources Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $13.23 and a 12 month high of $20.39.

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

MDU Resources Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 13th. MDU Resources Group's payout ratio is currently 37.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling at MDU Resources Group

In related news, Director Dennis W. Johnson acquired 30,000 shares of MDU Resources Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $16.64 per share, with a total value of $499,200.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 180,166 shares in the company, valued at $2,997,962.24. The trade was a 19.98% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.94% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

MDU Resources Group Profile

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.