Yahoo Finance Reasons to Add MDU Resources (MDU) to Your Portfolio Now
MDU Resources’ MDU two-platform business model, strategic acquisitions, planned investments in the electric and natural gas utility, rising backlog and ongoing projects are tailwinds.
Let’s focus on the factors that make this company an appropriate investment option at the moment.
Zacks Rank and VGM Score
MDU Resources currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Our proprietary VGM Score is based on research that has proven that stocks with the best value, growth and momentum characteristics outperform the market. V stands for Value, G for Growth and M for Momentum. MDU Resources has a VGM Score of B.
Growth Projections & Price Performance
The consensus mark for 2020 earnings is pegged at $1.70 per share, which suggests a 6.25% rise on a year-over-year basis. The company’s long-term (3 to 5 years) earnings growth rate is pegged at 7.10%.
Shares of MDU Resources have gained 18.6% in the past 12 months compared with the industry’s 16% growth.
Dividend Yield
MDU Resources has been paying out dividend since the past 82 consecutive years. It also raised annual dividend on November 2019, making it 29 consecutive years of hikes. Currently, the company’s dividend yield of 2.88% is better than Zacks S&P 500 composite’s 1.8% and the industry’s 2.83%.
Capital Investment
MDU Resources recently made announcements to provide capital expenditure forecast for 2020 through 2024. The company expects to invest $2.9 billion during the 2020-2024 period. The latest capex plan includes 8.6% hike from the previous plan of $2.6 billion for 2019-2023 period.
Other Key Picks
Some other top-ranked stocks from the same sector are The AES Corporation AES, Sempra Energy SRE and Entergy Corporation ETR. The AES Corporation currently sports a Zacks Rank #1, while the other two stocks carry a Zack Rank of 2.
The AES Corporation, Sempra Energy and Entergy delivered an average positive earnings surprise of 4.68%, 3.21% and 4.79%, respectively, in the last four quarters.
The long-term earnings growth rates for The AES Corporation, Sempra Energy and Entergy are pegged at 9.11%, 7.73% and 7%, respectively.
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