New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) Downgraded to “Sell” Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report published on Friday.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of New Jersey Resources from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $52.00 to $54.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim boosted their price target on shares of New Jersey Resources from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of New Jersey Resources from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of New Jersey Resources from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, New Jersey Resources has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.00.

New Jersey Resources Stock Down 2.4 %

NJR stock opened at $45.31 on Friday. New Jersey Resources has a twelve month low of $39.44 and a twelve month high of $51.94. The company has a market cap of $4.52 billion, a PE ratio of 15.52 and a beta of 0.64. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $47.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $46.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31.

New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.89. New Jersey Resources had a net margin of 16.13% and a return on equity of 13.54%. The company had revenue of $395.78 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $406.97 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.30 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that New Jersey Resources will post 3.1 earnings per share for the current year.

New Jersey Resources Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 11th were paid a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.97%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 11th. New Jersey Resources’s payout ratio is presently 61.64%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other New Jersey Resources news, COO Patrick J. Migliaccio sold 4,983 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.00, for a total transaction of $229,218.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 37,124 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,707,704. The trade was a 11.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On New Jersey Resources

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in New Jersey Resources by 23.6% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,288 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $107,000 after buying an additional 437 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in New Jersey Resources by 9,400.0% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 665 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 658 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in New Jersey Resources by 16.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 609,199 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,754,000 after purchasing an additional 86,742 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its stake in New Jersey Resources by 57.5% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 22,532 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,150,000 after purchasing an additional 8,230 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in New Jersey Resources in the 3rd quarter valued at about $271,000. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About New Jersey 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.