Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Boosts Holdings in New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its position in New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR – Get Rating) by 62.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,752 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 672 shares during the quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in New Jersey Resources were worth $68,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Venture Visionary Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of New Jersey Resources in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Wipfli Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of New Jersey Resources in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Godsey & Gibb Associates acquired a new stake in shares of New Jersey Resources during the second quarter worth about $31,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new stake in New Jersey Resources in the second quarter valued at approximately $61,000. Finally, CWM LLC increased its holdings in New Jersey Resources by 18.2% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,296 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $147,000 after buying an additional 508 shares during the period. 74.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at New Jersey Resources

In other New Jersey Resources news, COO Patrick J. Migliaccio sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.16, for a total transaction of $147,480.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 40,169 shares in the company, valued at $1,974,708.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.72% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

New Jersey Resources Stock Down 0.1 %

NJR opened at $51.09 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $48.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $45.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.86, a PEG ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 0.63. New Jersey Resources Co. has a fifty-two week low of $37.79 and a fifty-two week high of $51.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.68.

New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 17th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $765.49 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $602.80 million. New Jersey Resources had a return on equity of 13.56% and a net margin of 9.46%. On average, research analysts expect that New Jersey Resources Co. will post 2.48 earnings per share for the current year.

New Jersey Resources Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 14th were given a dividend of $0.39 per share. This is a positive change from New Jersey Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.05%. New Jersey Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.55%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of New Jersey Resources from $51.00 to $50.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 10th. Guggenheim decreased their target price on shares of New Jersey Resources from $41.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Monday, October 24th. StockNews.com raised New Jersey Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on New Jersey Resources from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 9th. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on New Jersey Resources from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $45.50.

New Jersey Resources Profile

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New Jersey Resources Corporation, an energy services holding company, provides regulated gas distribution, and retail and wholesale energy services. 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 569,300 residential and commercial customers throughout 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.