MDU Resources Group (MDU) Competitors

MDU Resources Group (NYSE:MDU) and Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) are both mid-cap utilities companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, profitability, media sentiment, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk and valuation.

Is MDU or BKH a better dividend stock?

MDU Resources Group pays an annual dividend of $0.52 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. Black Hills pays an annual dividend of $2.70 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.7%. MDU Resources Group pays out 40.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Black Hills pays out 68.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. MDU Resources Group has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years and Black Hills has raised its dividend for 55 consecutive years. Black Hills is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Does the media favor MDU or BKH?

In the previous week, Black Hills had 8 more articles in the media than MDU Resources Group. MarketBeat recorded 10 mentions for Black Hills and 2 mentions for MDU Resources Group. MDU Resources Group's average media sentiment score of 1.58 beat Black Hills' score of 0.42 indicating that MDU Resources Group is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
MDU Resources Group	2 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
Black Hills	3 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	6 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Do analysts recommend MDU or BKH?

MDU Resources Group presently has a consensus target price of $18.00, indicating a potential upside of 7.08%. Black Hills has a consensus target price of $66.00, indicating a potential upside of 15.97%. Given Black Hills' higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Black Hills is more favorable than MDU Resources Group.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
MDU Resources Group	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67
Black Hills	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.33

Which has better valuation & earnings, MDU or BKH?

MDU Resources Group has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Black Hills. MDU Resources Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Black Hills, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
MDU Resources Group	$1.84B	1.86	$281.11M	$1.29	13.03
Black Hills	$2.13B	1.94	$273.10M	$3.92	14.52

Do institutionals & insiders hold more shares of MDU or BKH?

71.4% of MDU Resources Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 86.7% of Black Hills shares are held by institutional investors. 0.9% of MDU Resources Group shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.6% of Black Hills shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Is MDU or BKH more profitable?

Black Hills has a net margin of 12.67% compared to MDU Resources Group's net margin of 7.93%. MDU Resources Group's return on equity of 9.86% beat Black Hills' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
MDU Resources Group	7.93%	9.86%	3.77%
Black Hills	12.67%	7.83%	2.80%

Which has more volatility and risk, MDU or BKH?

MDU Resources Group has a beta of 0.7, suggesting that its stock price is 30% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Black Hills has a beta of 0.7, suggesting that its stock price is 30% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Black Hills beats MDU Resources Group on 10 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.