Hudson Bay Capital Management LP Makes New Investment in MDU Resources Group, Inc. (NYSE:MDU)

Hudson Bay Capital Management LP bought a new stake in MDU Resources Group, Inc. (NYSE:MDU - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 180,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,244,000. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP owned 0.09% of MDU Resources Group as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in shares of MDU Resources Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $778,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in MDU Resources Group by 42.2% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 115,907 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,089,000 after purchasing an additional 34,409 shares during the period. Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in MDU Resources Group by 21.3% during the fourth quarter. Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 81,626 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,471,000 after purchasing an additional 14,360 shares during the period. Advisors Preferred LLC acquired a new position in MDU Resources Group during the fourth quarter worth about $5,691,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in MDU Resources Group by 109.3% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 988,008 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $17,804,000 after acquiring an additional 515,878 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com raised MDU Resources Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $21.00.

MDU Resources Group Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of MDU Resources Group stock traded up $0.17 on Friday, hitting $17.41. The stock had a trading volume of 1,424,443 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,471,549. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $16.81 and a 200 day moving average of $17.79. MDU Resources Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $13.23 and a twelve month high of $20.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.61, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.72.

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

MDU Resources Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 12th will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.99%. MDU Resources Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 40.31%.

MDU Resources Group Company 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.