Hennessy Advisors Inc. Has $5.95 Million Stock Position in New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. boosted its position in New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR) by 3.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 127,634 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,800 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc. owned 0.13% of New Jersey Resources worth $5,954,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in New Jersey Resources during the third quarter worth $8,590,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of New Jersey Resources by 39.9% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 618,379 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,430,000 after acquiring an additional 176,396 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its holdings in shares of New Jersey Resources by 8,995.5% in the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 157,079 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,414,000 after acquiring an additional 155,352 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 154,441 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Algert Global LLC boosted its stake in New Jersey Resources by 176.0% during the 2nd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 185,637 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,934,000 after purchasing an additional 118,377 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

New Jersey Resources Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NJR opened at $47.34 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $47.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $46.55. New Jersey Resources Co. has a 1-year low of $39.44 and a 1-year high of $51.94. The firm has a market cap of $4.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.21 and a beta of 0.64.

New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89. The business had revenue of $395.78 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 quarterly revenue was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.30 EPS. Analysts anticipate that New Jersey Resources Co. will post 3.1 earnings per share for the current year.

New Jersey Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. 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 3.80%. New Jersey Resources’s payout ratio is 61.64%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Patrick J. Migliaccio sold 4,983 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.00, for a total transaction of $229,218.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 37,124 shares in the company, valued at $1,707,704. This represents a 11.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NJR has been the topic of several analyst reports. Guggenheim lifted their target price on New Jersey Resources from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of New Jersey Resources from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of New Jersey Resources from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised New Jersey Resources from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $52.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.00.

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.