6,733 Shares in New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR) Purchased by Atlas Legacy Advisors LLC

Atlas Legacy Advisors LLC acquired a new position in New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 6,733 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $314,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in New Jersey Resources by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,366,381 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $111,714,000 after buying an additional 34,782 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of New Jersey Resources by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,227,815 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $57,953,000 after purchasing an additional 33,772 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of New Jersey Resources by 16.6% during 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 period. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC grew its stake in shares of New Jersey Resources by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 422,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $19,918,000 after purchasing an additional 17,664 shares during the period. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers grew its stake in shares of New Jersey Resources by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 352,140 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $16,427,000 after purchasing an additional 1,037 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on NJR shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on New Jersey Resources from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on New Jersey Resources from $54.00 to $52.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Guggenheim boosted their price target on New Jersey Resources from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, StockNews.com raised New Jersey Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Four 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $51.75.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Patrick J. Migliaccio sold 4,983 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.00, for a total transaction of $229,218.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 37,124 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,707,704. This represents a 11.83 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

New Jersey Resources Stock Up 0.3 %

NYSE NJR opened at $46.45 on Thursday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $4.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.99 and a beta of 0.63. New Jersey Resources Co. has a one year low of $40.51 and a one year high of $51.94. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $46.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $46.86.

New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The utilities provider reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.15. New Jersey Resources had a return on equity of 15.72% and a net margin of 18.25%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.74 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that New Jersey Resources Co. will post 3.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

New Jersey Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.88%. New Jersey Resources’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.22%.

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.