New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) Cut to Sell at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on New Jersey Resources from $47.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Mizuho increased their price objective on New Jersey Resources from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on New Jersey Resources from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, New Jersey Resources has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $49.00.

New Jersey Resources Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NJR opened at $45.89 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $46.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $44.80. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.20 and a beta of 0.59. New Jersey Resources has a one year low of $39.44 and a one year high of $48.68.

New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) last issued its earnings results 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 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%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.10 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that New Jersey Resources will post 2.95 EPS for the current year.

New Jersey Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This is a positive change from New Jersey Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 23rd. New Jersey Resources’s dividend payout ratio is currently 75.31%.

Institutional Trading of New Jersey Resources

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of New Jersey Resources in the third quarter valued at $27,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of New Jersey Resources in the second quarter valued at $31,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of New Jersey Resources by 119.5% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,214 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 661 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp acquired a new stake in shares of New Jersey Resources in the third quarter valued at $52,000. Finally, Spirit of America Management Corp NY increased its stake in shares of New Jersey Resources by 140.0% in the third quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY now owns 1,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.