New Jersey Resources Co. (NJR) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.45 on April 1st

New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, January 23rd,Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be paid a dividend of 0.45 per share by the utilities provider on Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th.

New Jersey Resources has increased its dividend payment by an average of 7.8% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 29 consecutive years. New Jersey Resources has a dividend payout ratio of 57.9% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect New Jersey Resources to earn $3.12 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.80 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 57.7%.

New Jersey Resources Price Performance

NJR stock opened at $46.91 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.68 billion, a PE ratio of 16.06 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $47.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $46.68. New Jersey Resources has a 52-week low of $39.44 and a 52-week high of $51.94.

New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89. New Jersey Resources had a net margin of 16.13% and a return on equity of 13.54%. The firm had revenue of $395.78 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $406.97 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.30 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that New Jersey Resources will post 3.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of New Jersey Resources from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. StockNews.com lowered shares of New Jersey Resources from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded New Jersey Resources from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $52.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at New Jersey Resources

In related news, COO Patrick J. Migliaccio sold 4,983 shares of New Jersey Resources 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 in the company, valued at $1,707,704. The trade was a 11.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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.

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.