MDU Resources Group, Inc. (MDU) To Go Ex-Dividend on March 13th

MDU Resources Group, Inc. (NYSE:MDU) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 13th,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of 0.13 per share by the utilities provider on Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th.

MDU Resources Group has decreased its dividend payment by an average of 15.8% per year over the last three years. MDU Resources Group has a payout ratio of 51.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect MDU Resources Group to earn $1.12 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.52 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 46.4%.

MDU Resources Group Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of MDU Resources Group stock opened at $16.78 on Friday. MDU Resources Group has a fifty-two week low of $14.91 and a fifty-two week high of $30.52. 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 50-day simple moving average of $18.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $22.26. The company has a market cap of $3.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.80.

MDU Resources Group (NYSE:MDU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.03. MDU Resources Group had a net margin of 7.31% and a return on equity of 10.20%. As a group, equities analysts predict that MDU Resources Group will post 0.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on MDU shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of MDU Resources Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Siebert Williams Shank raised shares of MDU Resources Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $19.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America raised shares of MDU Resources Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $31.00 to $17.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of MDU Resources Group in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. They set a “hold” rating and a $18.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, MDU Resources Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $21.00.

Insider Activity at MDU Resources Group

In other news, Director Dennis W. Johnson purchased 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was acquired at an average price 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 approximately $2,997,962.24. This represents a 19.98 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.