New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR) Stock Position Decreased by New York State Teachers Retirement System

New York State Teachers Retirement System decreased its stake in shares of New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR) by 7.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 129,979 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 10,563 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in New Jersey Resources were worth $5,794,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of New Jersey Resources by 3.3% during 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 last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of New Jersey Resources during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,738,000. Inspire Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 906 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 8,681 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mattern Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 29,492 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Mizuho lowered their price objective on New Jersey Resources from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 5th. StockNews.com raised New Jersey Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th.

New Jersey Resources Stock Performance

NJR opened at $41.79 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.13 and a beta of 0.64. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $41.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. New Jersey Resources Co. has a 12-month low of $38.92 and a 12-month high of $54.89.

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

New Jersey Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.02%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 12th. New Jersey Resources’s payout ratio is presently 68.85%.

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.