MDU Resources Group vs NorthWestern Energy
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The short version
- MDU Resources Group is the larger business, with $1.9B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $1.6B for NorthWestern Energy.
- NorthWestern Energy kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (20.2% operating margin, against 15.5%).
- NorthWestern Energy turned more of its sales into free cash flow (−8.1% FCF margin, against −15.8%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of NorthWestern Energy’s earnings: a P/E of 28.0x against 20.2x for MDU Resources Group.
| Latest fiscal year | MDU · FY25 | NWE · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $4.1B | $4.8B |
| Revenue | $1.9B | $1.6B |
| Free cash flow | −$297M | −$130M |
| Net income | $190M | $181M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 6.7% | 6.4% |
| 5-year growth | −19.5% | 6.1% |
| Share count change | 0.3% | 0.3% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | — | — |
| Operating margin | 15.5% | 20.2% |
| Net margin | 10.2% | 11.2% |
| FCF margin | −15.8% | −8.1% |
| Return on capital | 5.1% | 5.1% |
| Return on equity | 7.0% | 6.3% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $2.6B | $3.4B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 5.3x | 6.0x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $108M | $161M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 20.2x | 28.0x |
| Piotroski F-score | 4 | 5 |
Revenue
FY16
MDU $4.1B
NWE $1.3B
FY17
MDU $4.4B
NWE $1.3B
FY18
MDU $4.5B
NWE $1.2B
FY19
MDU $5.3B
NWE $1.3B
FY20
MDU $5.5B
NWE $1.2B
FY21
MDU $3.5B
NWE $1.4B
FY22
MDU $1.7B
NWE $1.5B
FY23
MDU $1.8B
NWE $1.4B
FY24
MDU $1.8B
NWE $1.5B
FY25
MDU $1.9B
NWE $1.6B
MDU
NWE
Operating margin
FY16
MDU 9.9%
NWE 20.3%
FY17
MDU 9.5%
NWE 20.8%
FY18
MDU 8.9%
NWE 22.3%
FY19
MDU 9.0%
NWE 22.0%
FY20
MDU 9.9%
NWE 19.7%
FY21
MDU 9.6%
NWE 20.1%
FY22
MDU 11.5%
NWE 17.8%
FY23
MDU 12.5%
NWE 21.1%
FY24
MDU 15.1%
NWE 21.4%
FY25
MDU 15.5%
NWE 20.2%
MDU
NWE
Free cash flow
FY16
MDU $74.0M
NWE −$1.1M
FY17
MDU $107M
NWE $46.3M
FY18
MDU −$68.4M
NWE $98.0M
FY19
MDU −$33.8M
NWE −$19.3M
FY20
MDU $210M
NWE −$53.6M
FY21
MDU $10.6M
NWE −$214M
FY22
MDU $67.5M
NWE −$208M
FY23
MDU −$152M
NWE −$77.7M
FY24
MDU −$20.5M
NWE −$143M
FY25
MDU −$297M
NWE −$130M
MDU
NWE
Return on capital
FY16
MDU 7.0%
NWE 6.9%
FY17
MDU 8.5%
NWE 6.6%
FY18
MDU 7.8%
NWE 6.7%
FY19
MDU 8.4%
NWE 6.7%
FY20
MDU 8.7%
NWE 5.4%
FY21
MDU 4.9%
NWE 5.8%
FY22
MDU 3.2%
NWE 5.1%
FY23
MDU 4.0%
NWE 5.3%
FY24
MDU 4.8%
NWE 5.6%
FY25
MDU 5.1%
NWE 5.1%
MDU
NWE
Each company's latest fiscal year; fiscal years end in different months. The best value in each row is highlighted where higher (or lower) is clearly better. Not investment advice.