Mizuho Lowers New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) Price Target to $50.00

New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) had its price target lowered by Mizuho from $52.00 to $50.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “neutral” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Mizuho’s price target indicates a potential upside of 7.39% from the stock’s previous close.

NJR has been the topic of a number of other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of New Jersey Resources from $54.00 to $52.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. New Street Research set a $51.00 target price on New Jersey Resources in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of New Jersey Resources in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued a “hold” rating and a $51.00 price target on the stock. Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of New Jersey Resources from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of New Jersey Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, New Jersey Resources has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.83.

New Jersey Resources Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NJR opened at $46.56 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $48.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $47.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.89. New Jersey Resources has a 1 year low of $41.58 and a 1 year high of $51.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.67 billion, a PE ratio of 14.02 and a beta of 0.66.

New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $913.03 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $732.00 million. New Jersey Resources had a net margin of 18.25% and a return on equity of 15.72%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 38.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.41 EPS. Analysts forecast that New Jersey Resources will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other New Jersey Resources news, CFO Roberto Bel sold 2,346 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.58, for a total value of $113,968.68. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 23,822 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,157,272.76. The trade was a 8.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of New Jersey Resources

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its position in New Jersey Resources by 42.0% during the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 839 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Xponance Inc. boosted its stake in shares of New Jersey Resources by 1.9% during the first quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 15,310 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $751,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System increased its position in New Jersey Resources by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 28,781 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,343,000 after purchasing an additional 325 shares in the last quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC raised its stake in New Jersey Resources by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC now owns 34,643 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,616,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of New Jersey Resources by 69.8% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 839 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 345 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

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.