New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) Lifted to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Sunday morning.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on New Jersey Resources from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Mizuho raised their price target on New Jersey Resources from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of New Jersey Resources to a strong-buy rating in a research report on Monday, June 10th.

New Jersey Resources Trading Down 0.2 %

NJR stock opened at $46.91 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $46.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $44.09. New Jersey Resources has a fifty-two week low of $38.92 and a fifty-two week high of $48.68. The firm has a market cap of $4.64 billion, a PE ratio of 18.54 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.60.

New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported ($0.09) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.02) by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $275.64 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $283.56 million. New Jersey Resources had a return on equity of 11.06% and a net margin of 13.61%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.10 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that New Jersey Resources will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

New Jersey Resources Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 23rd will be issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.84%. This is an increase from New Jersey Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 23rd. New Jersey Resources’s dividend payout ratio is presently 71.15%.

Insider Activity at New Jersey Resources

In other New Jersey Resources news, CEO Stephen D. Westhoven sold 26,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.06, for a total value of $1,198,596.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 168,705 shares in the company, valued at $7,601,847.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Stephen D. Westhoven sold 3,400 shares of New Jersey Resources stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total transaction of $153,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 195,305 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,788,725. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Stephen D. Westhoven sold 26,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.06, for a total value of $1,198,596.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 168,705 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,601,847.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.75% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On New Jersey Resources

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of New Jersey Resources by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,897,288 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $530,381,000 after acquiring an additional 332,420 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of New Jersey Resources by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,956,772 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $126,372,000 after purchasing an additional 154,441 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of New Jersey Resources by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,284,245 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $54,889,000 after purchasing an additional 40,094 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of New Jersey Resources by 1.0% during the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 917,203 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,357,000 after purchasing an additional 8,843 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in New Jersey Resources by 12.7% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 819,693 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,542,000 after buying an additional 92,152 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

New Jersey Resources Company Profile

New Jersey Resources Corporation, an energy services holding company, distributes natural gas. The company operates through four segments: Natural Gas Distribution, Clean Energy Ventures, Energy Services, and Storage and Transportation. The Natural Gas Distribution segment offers regulated natural gas utility services to approximately 576,000 customers in Burlington, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Ocean, and Sussex counties in New Jersey; provides capacity and storage management services; and participates in the off-system sales and capacity release markets.