New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR) Stock Holdings Trimmed by Claro Advisors LLC

Claro Advisors LLC reduced its position in New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR) by 21.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,440 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 3,363 shares during the quarter. Claro Advisors LLC’s holdings in New Jersey Resources were worth $580,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in New Jersey Resources by 2.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,227,815 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $57,953,000 after acquiring an additional 33,772 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in New Jersey Resources by 39.9% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 618,379 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,430,000 after acquiring an additional 176,396 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in New Jersey Resources by 4,620.0% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 83,638 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,948,000 after acquiring an additional 81,866 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its stake in New Jersey Resources by 10.1% in the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 155,658 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,653,000 after acquiring an additional 14,338 shares during the period. Finally, Quest Partners LLC boosted its stake in New Jersey Resources by 302.0% in the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 39,369 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,858,000 after acquiring an additional 29,575 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Mizuho lifted their target price on New Jersey Resources from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. StockNews.com downgraded New Jersey Resources from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on New Jersey Resources from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded New Jersey Resources from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $52.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their price objective on New Jersey Resources from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other New Jersey Resources news, COO Patrick J. Migliaccio sold 4,983 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.00, for a total value of $229,218.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 37,124 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,707,704. This represents a 11.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

New Jersey Resources Stock Performance

NJR opened at $45.65 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.63 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.36. New Jersey Resources Co. has a 1-year low of $39.44 and a 1-year high of $51.94. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $47.87 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $46.48.

New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89. The firm had revenue of $395.78 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $406.97 million. New Jersey Resources had a return on equity of 13.54% and a net margin of 16.13%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.30 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that New Jersey Resources Co. will post 3.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

New Jersey Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th were given a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.94%. New Jersey Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.64%.

New Jersey Resources 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.