New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) Lifted 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 Sunday morning.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Mizuho increased their price target on New Jersey Resources from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on New Jersey Resources from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Argus raised New Jersey Resources to a strong-buy rating in a report on Monday, June 10th.

New Jersey Resources Price Performance

NJR stock opened at $47.64 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.60. New Jersey Resources has a 1 year low of $38.92 and a 1 year high of $48.68. The firm has a market cap of $4.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.83 and a beta of 0.59. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $46.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $44.01.

New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) last issued its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $275.64 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $283.56 million. New Jersey Resources had a net margin of 13.61% and a return on equity of 11.06%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.10 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that New Jersey Resources will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

New Jersey Resources Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.78%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 23rd. This is an increase from New Jersey Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. New Jersey Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 71.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Stephen D. Westhoven sold 26,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.06, for a total value of $1,198,596.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 168,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,601,847.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Stephen D. Westhoven sold 26,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.06, for a total value of $1,198,596.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 168,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,601,847.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen D. Westhoven sold 3,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total value of $153,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 195,305 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,788,725. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of New Jersey Resources

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NJR. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in New Jersey Resources in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,403,000. Confluence Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in New Jersey Resources in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $19,337,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in New Jersey Resources by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,897,288 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $530,381,000 after acquiring an additional 332,420 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in New Jersey Resources by 192.9% in the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 387,950 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $16,581,000 after acquiring an additional 255,503 shares during the period. Finally, Energy Income Partners LLC increased its position in New Jersey Resources by 54.9% in the 1st quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC now owns 537,636 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $23,070,000 after acquiring an additional 190,500 shares during the period. 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.