New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR) Shares Sold by Arizona State Retirement System

Arizona State Retirement System cut its holdings in shares of New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 27,273 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 335 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in New Jersey Resources were worth $1,216,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of NJR. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of New Jersey Resources by 11.8% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,095,820 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $540,987,000 after acquiring an additional 1,069,306 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of New Jersey Resources during the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,226,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in New Jersey Resources by 22.6% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,203,151 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $146,897,000 after buying an additional 589,747 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew 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 buying an additional 373,802 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in New Jersey Resources by 151.1% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 602,011 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,609,000 after buying an additional 362,282 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

New Jersey Resources Price Performance

New Jersey Resources stock opened at $41.79 on Monday. New Jersey Resources Co. has a one year low of $38.92 and a one year high of $54.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.70. The business has a fifty day moving average of $41.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $42.43. The company has a market cap of $4.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.13 and a beta of 0.64.

New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.74 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 posted $1.14 EPS. New Jersey Resources’s revenue was down 35.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that New Jersey Resources Co. will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

New Jersey Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were issued a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.02%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 12th. New Jersey Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NJR has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of New Jersey Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of New Jersey Resources from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 5th.

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.