New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR) Shares Purchased by Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc.

Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR) by 33.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 38,273 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,589 shares during the quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc.’s holdings in New Jersey Resources were worth $1,706,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in New Jersey Resources by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,564,868 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $469,881,000 after acquiring an additional 373,802 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in New Jersey Resources during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,738,000. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its stake in New Jersey Resources by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 7,555 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $307,000 after purchasing an additional 906 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its stake in New Jersey Resources by 56.3% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 24,112 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $980,000 after purchasing an additional 8,681 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mattern Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in New Jersey Resources by 22.0% during the 3rd quarter. Mattern Capital Management LLC now owns 163,683 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,650,000 after purchasing an additional 29,492 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NJR has been the subject of a number of research reports. Mizuho decreased their price target on New Jersey Resources from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 5th. StockNews.com raised New Jersey Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th.

New Jersey Resources Stock Performance

NJR opened at $41.87 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $4.12 billion, a PE ratio of 17.16 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $41.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.42. New Jersey Resources Co. has a fifty-two week low of $38.92 and a fifty-two week high of $55.84.

New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.89 by ($0.15). The company had revenue of $467.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $812.66 million. New Jersey Resources had a return on equity of 11.13% and a net margin of 13.96%. The business’s revenue was down 35.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.14 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that New Jersey Resources Co. will post 2.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

New Jersey Resources Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 12th. New Jersey Resources’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.85%.

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.