Principal Financial Group Inc. Decreases Stake in MDU Resources Group, Inc. (NYSE:MDU)

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in MDU Resources Group, Inc. (NYSE:MDU - Free Report) by 30.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 472,130 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 206,768 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.23% of MDU Resources Group worth $12,941,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MDU. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in MDU Resources Group by 1.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,719,543 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $101,978,000 after buying an additional 65,433 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of MDU Resources Group by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 87,022 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,386,000 after acquiring an additional 6,264 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in shares of MDU Resources Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $396,000. Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of MDU Resources Group in the third quarter valued at about $619,000. Finally, State Street Corp increased its position in MDU Resources Group by 1.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,344,185 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $174,713,000 after purchasing an additional 114,719 shares during the last quarter. 71.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on MDU shares. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of MDU Resources Group in a report on Thursday. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock. Bank of America upgraded MDU Resources Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $31.00 to $17.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Siebert Williams Shank raised MDU Resources Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $19.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th.

MDU Resources Group Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of MDU traded down $0.13 during trading on Friday, reaching $18.20. 990,707 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,626,364. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $20.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $24.04. The stock has a market cap of $3.71 billion, a PE ratio of 9.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.79. MDU Resources Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $14.91 and a twelve month high of $30.52. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73.

MDU Resources Group (NYSE:MDU - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.01. MDU Resources Group had a net margin of 8.92% and a return on equity of 11.24%. The firm had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $969.17 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.29 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that MDU Resources Group, Inc. will post 1.13 earnings per share for the current year.

MDU Resources Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, December 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 12th. MDU Resources Group's payout ratio is 26.67%.

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.