New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, one has given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $51.83.

Several research firms have commented on NJR. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of New Jersey Resources from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of New Jersey Resources from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of New Jersey Resources from $54.00 to $52.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of New Jersey Resources from $52.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of New Jersey Resources in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They set a “hold” rating and a $51.00 target price for the company.

New Jersey Resources Trading Down 0.8%

NJR stock opened at $46.71 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $48.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $47.83. New Jersey Resources has a fifty-two week low of $41.58 and a fifty-two week high of $51.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market cap of $4.69 billion, a PE ratio of 14.07 and a beta of 0.66.

New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $913.03 million during 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%. New Jersey Resources’s revenue for the quarter was up 38.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.41 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that New Jersey Resources will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

New Jersey Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.85%. New Jersey Resources’s payout ratio is currently 43.69%.

Insider Activity at New Jersey Resources

In related news, CFO Roberto Bel sold 2,346 shares of New Jersey Resources stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.58, for a total value of $113,968.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 23,822 shares in the company, valued at $1,157,272.76. The trade was a 8.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On New Jersey Resources

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new position in New Jersey Resources in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in New Jersey Resources in the first quarter worth about $37,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in New Jersey Resources by 69.8% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 839 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares in the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in New Jersey Resources by 42.0% in the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 839 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new position in New Jersey Resources in the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.