New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) Upgraded 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 issued to investors on Friday morning.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Mizuho boosted their price objective 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. 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of New Jersey Resources from $47.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $49.00.

New Jersey Resources Price Performance

NJR traded up $0.44 during trading on Friday, hitting $46.82. 696,968 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 386,932. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $46.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $44.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.41. New Jersey Resources has a twelve month low of $39.44 and a twelve month high of $48.68. The company has a market cap of $4.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.58 and a beta of 0.59.

New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) last announced 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). New Jersey Resources had a return on equity of 11.06% and a net margin of 13.61%. The business had revenue of $275.64 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $283.56 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.10 earnings per share. New Jersey Resources’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that New Jersey Resources will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

New Jersey Resources Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be paid a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.84%. New Jersey Resources’s payout ratio is 75.31%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On New Jersey Resources

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in NJR. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp lifted its holdings in New Jersey Resources by 2.0% in the first quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 85,930 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,687,000 after buying an additional 1,650 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in New Jersey Resources during the first quarter worth approximately $1,635,000. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in New Jersey Resources by 2,652.8% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 89,631 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,846,000 after purchasing an additional 86,375 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank lifted its stake in New Jersey Resources by 0.4% in the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 193,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,282,000 after buying an additional 700 shares during the period. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in New Jersey Resources by 5.5% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 24,292 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,042,000 after buying an additional 1,257 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is 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.