Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Acquires 881 Shares of NewJersey Resources Corporation (NYSE:NJR)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in NewJersey Resources Corporation (NYSE:NJR) by 8.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,228 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 881 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in NewJersey Resources were worth $551,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of NewJersey Resources in the fourth quarter valued at about $51,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its position in NewJersey Resources by 6,245.8% during the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,523 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $71,000 after buying an additional 1,499 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP increased its position in NewJersey Resources by 13,692.3% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,793 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $84,000 after buying an additional 1,780 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in NewJersey Resources by 107.9% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,744 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $86,000 after buying an additional 905 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in NewJersey Resources by 83.7% during the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,859 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $91,000 after buying an additional 847 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Patrick J. Migliaccio sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.22, for a total value of $66,330.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 35,690 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,578,211.80. The trade was a 4.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.72% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on NJR shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on NewJersey Resources from $56.00 to $51.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on NewJersey Resources from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Mizuho cut their price target on NewJersey Resources from $52.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on NewJersey Resources in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $49.00 target price for the company. Finally, New Street Research set a $51.00 price objective on NewJersey Resources in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.29.

NewJersey Resources Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NJR opened at $45.38 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.55 billion, a PE ratio of 11.01 and a beta of 0.61. NewJersey Resources Corporation has a 12 month low of $41.68 and a 12 month high of $51.95. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $45.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $47.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20.

NewJersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.11. NewJersey Resources had a return on equity of 16.95% and a net margin of 20.03%. The firm had revenue of $913.03 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $732.00 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.41 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 38.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that NewJersey Resources Corporation will post 3.15 EPS for the current year.

NewJersey Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 10th were given a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 10th. NewJersey Resources’s payout ratio is 43.69%.

About NewJersey Resources

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.