Sciencast Management LP Sells 20,405 Shares of New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR)

Sciencast Management LP trimmed its position in shares of New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR) by 81.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,690 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 20,405 shares during the quarter. Sciencast Management LP’s holdings in New Jersey Resources were worth $219,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in New Jersey Resources by 2.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,227,815 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $57,953,000 after buying an additional 33,772 shares during the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. grew its stake in New Jersey Resources by 59.0% during the fourth quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 33,276 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,552,000 after buying an additional 12,353 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in New Jersey Resources by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,211,702 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $56,526,000 after buying an additional 96,393 shares during the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP grew its stake in New Jersey Resources by 22.2% during the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 60,162 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,840,000 after buying an additional 10,946 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in New Jersey Resources by 18.8% during the fourth quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 39,514 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,843,000 after buying an additional 6,250 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

New Jersey Resources Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE NJR opened at $48.46 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $47.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.31. New Jersey Resources Co. has a fifty-two week low of $40.62 and a fifty-two week high of $51.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.59 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.61.

New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 3rd. The utilities provider reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.15. New Jersey Resources had a net margin of 18.25% and a return on equity of 15.72%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.74 EPS. On average, analysts predict that New Jersey Resources Co. will post 3.15 EPS for the current year.

New Jersey Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.71%. New Jersey Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.22%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NJR has been the topic of a number of research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of New Jersey Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of New Jersey Resources from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company upped 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. reduced their target price on shares of New Jersey Resources from $54.00 to $52.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, New Jersey Resources has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $51.75.

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.