New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) Price Target Increased to $51.00 by Analysts at Wells Fargo & Company

New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) had its price target raised by Wells Fargo & Company from $47.00 to $51.00 in a research note published on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of New Jersey Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, September 22nd. Mizuho boosted their price target on New Jersey Resources from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on New Jersey Resources from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $49.00.

New Jersey Resources Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE NJR opened at $47.02 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $46.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $44.57. The stock has a market cap of $4.65 billion, a PE ratio of 18.58 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30. New Jersey Resources has a 52-week low of $39.44 and a 52-week high of $48.68.

New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported ($0.09) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.02) by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $275.64 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $283.56 million. New Jersey Resources had a net margin of 13.61% and a return on equity of 11.06%. New Jersey Resources’s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.10 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that New Jersey Resources will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current year.

New Jersey Resources Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 23rd were issued a $0.45 dividend. This is an increase from New Jersey Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 23rd. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.83%. New Jersey Resources’s payout ratio is presently 71.15%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cox Capital Mgt LLC boosted its holdings in New Jersey Resources by 180.8% in the 1st quarter. Cox Capital Mgt LLC now owns 75,647 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,246,000 after purchasing an additional 48,703 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of New Jersey Resources by 39.9% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 618,379 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,430,000 after buying an additional 176,396 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 332,420 shares in the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System grew its holdings in New Jersey Resources by 41.8% during the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 48,031 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,061,000 after acquiring an additional 14,150 shares during the period. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in New Jersey Resources in the first quarter worth $1,635,000. 70.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About New Jersey Resources

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.