Vanguard Group Inc. Has $542.58 Million Holdings in NewJersey Resources Corporation (NYSE:NJR)

Vanguard Group Inc. decreased its position in shares of NewJersey Resources Corporation (NYSE:NJR) by 4.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,059,550 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 457,093 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 11.03% of NewJersey Resources worth $542,582,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of NJR. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of NewJersey Resources by 36.6% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 52,040 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,428,000 after purchasing an additional 13,955 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in shares of NewJersey Resources by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 41,671 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,944,000 after purchasing an additional 1,925 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in shares of NewJersey Resources by 28.0% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 7,566 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $354,000 after purchasing an additional 1,655 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of NewJersey Resources by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 427,221 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $19,930,000 after purchasing an additional 16,104 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in shares of NewJersey Resources by 17.9% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 184,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,584,000 after purchasing an additional 27,900 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on NewJersey Resources from $56.00 to $51.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Mizuho lowered their target price on NewJersey Resources from $52.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 target price (up from $49.00) on shares of NewJersey Resources in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on NewJersey Resources from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded NewJersey Resources from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, NewJersey Resources currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.43.

NewJersey Resources Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of NewJersey Resources stock opened at $47.52 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $45.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $46.94. NewJersey Resources Corporation has a 12-month low of $43.80 and a 12-month high of $51.94. The company has a market capitalization of $4.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.62 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25.

NewJersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.06) by $0.12. The business had revenue of $298.95 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $305.05 million. NewJersey Resources had a return on equity of 17.08% and a net margin of 19.64%. NewJersey Resources’s revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.09) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that NewJersey Resources Corporation will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at NewJersey Resources

In other NewJersey Resources news, COO Patrick J. Migliaccio sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief operating officer owned 35,690 shares in the company, valued at $1,578,211.80. This represents a 4.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.72% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

NewJersey 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.