MDU Resources Group Earnings Preview

MDU Resources Group (NYSE: MDU  ) didn't hit the Street's expectations last quarter, but investors hope that it will rebound this quarter. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Monday, August 1. MDU Resources Group, through its subsidiary, is engaged in electric and natural gas distribution, construction services, pipeline and energy services, natural gas and oil production, construction materials and contracting.

What analysts say:

• Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts think investors should stand pat on MDU Resources Group with six of nine analysts rating it hold. Analysts like MDU Resources Group better than competitor Vectren overall. Zero out of six analysts rate Vectren a buy compared to three of nine for MDU Resources Group. While analysts still rate the stock a hold, they are a little more optimistic about it compared to three months ago.
• Revenue Forecasts: On average, analysts predict $931.1 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 2.7% from the year-ago quarter.
• Wall Street Earnings Expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $0.25 per share. Estimates range from $0.21 to $0.30.

What our community says:
CAPS All Stars are solidly backing the stock, with 96.1% awarding it an "outperform" rating. The community at large backs the All Stars with 94.8% granting it a rating of "outperform." Fools are keen on MDU Resources Group, though the message boards have been quiet lately with only 74 posts in the past 30 days. Despite the majority sentiment in favor of MDU Resources Group, the stock has a middling CAPS rating of three out of five stars.

Management:
MDU Resources Group's income has fallen year over year by an average of 5.1%. Revenue has now gone up for three straight quarters.

Now let's look at how efficient management is at running the business. Traditionally, margins represent the efficiency with which companies capture portions of sales dollars. The following table shows gross and net margins over the past four quarters:

Quarter	Q1	Q4	Q3	Q2
Gross Margin	23.6%	24.4%	20.5%	23.2%
Net Margin	4.8%	8.5%	5.4%	5.4%

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