New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR) Shares Sold by FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH

FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH reduced its stake in New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR) by 3.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 21,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 801 shares during the quarter. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH’s holdings in New Jersey Resources were worth $1,003,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Good Life Advisors LLC increased its holdings in New Jersey Resources by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC now owns 34,316 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,620,000 after purchasing an additional 333 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of New Jersey Resources by 3.9% during the third quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 9,185 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $434,000 after buying an additional 345 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of New Jersey Resources by 23.6% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,288 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $107,000 after buying an additional 437 shares during the period. Creative Planning raised its holdings in New Jersey Resources by 2.4% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 20,514 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $968,000 after acquiring an additional 481 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategy Asset Managers LLC lifted its stake in New Jersey Resources by 6.1% in the third quarter. Strategy Asset Managers LLC now owns 8,592 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $406,000 after acquiring an additional 496 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at New Jersey Resources

In related news, COO Patrick J. Migliaccio sold 4,983 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.00, for a total transaction of $229,218.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 37,124 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,707,704. This trade represents a 11.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.72% of the stock is owned by insiders.

New Jersey Resources Stock Performance

NYSE NJR opened at $47.34 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $47.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $46.55. The company has a market capitalization of $4.72 billion, a PE ratio of 16.21 and a beta of 0.64. New Jersey Resources Co. has a 1 year low of $39.44 and a 1 year high of $51.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.36.

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

New Jersey Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th were issued a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.80%. New Jersey Resources’s payout ratio is 61.64%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of New Jersey Resources from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $52.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim raised their price target on New Jersey Resources from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Mizuho upped their price objective on New Jersey Resources from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on New Jersey Resources from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, StockNews.com cut New Jersey Resources from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, New Jersey Resources presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.00.

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.