New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR) Shares Sold by Private Advisor Group LLC

Private Advisor Group LLC trimmed its stake in shares of New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR) by 9.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,887 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 976 shares during the quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in New Jersey Resources were worth $419,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of New Jersey Resources by 39.9% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 618,379 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,430,000 after purchasing an additional 176,396 shares during the period. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System grew its holdings in New Jersey Resources by 41.8% in the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 48,031 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,061,000 after buying an additional 14,150 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in New Jersey Resources in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,635,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings 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 worth $16,581,000 after buying an additional 255,503 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in New Jersey Resources by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,284,245 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $54,889,000 after buying an additional 40,094 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NJR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on New Jersey Resources from $47.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Mizuho increased their price objective on New Jersey Resources from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. StockNews.com lowered New Jersey Resources from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on New Jersey Resources from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $49.00.

New Jersey Resources Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NJR opened at $45.69 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $46.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $44.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.60. The firm has a market cap of $4.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.12 and a beta of 0.59. New Jersey Resources Co. has a 1 year low of $39.44 and a 1 year high of $48.68.

New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported ($0.09) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.02) by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $275.64 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $283.56 million. New Jersey Resources had a net margin of 13.61% and a return on equity of 11.06%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.10 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that New Jersey Resources Co. will post 2.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

New Jersey Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 23rd were given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.94%. The ex-dividend date was 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 is 75.31%.

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.