Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC Takes $42,000 Position in New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR)

Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new stake in New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 900 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $42,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of New Jersey Resources by 1.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,366,381 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $111,714,000 after buying an additional 34,782 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of New Jersey Resources by 2.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,227,815 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $57,953,000 after buying an additional 33,772 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of New Jersey Resources by 8.6% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,211,702 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $56,526,000 after buying an additional 96,393 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of New Jersey Resources by 16.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 609,199 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,754,000 after buying an additional 86,742 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC raised its holdings in shares of New Jersey Resources by 4.4% in the third quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 422,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $19,918,000 after buying an additional 17,664 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

New Jersey Resources Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NJR opened at $48.36 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $46.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $47.01. New Jersey Resources Co. has a twelve month low of $40.62 and a twelve month high of $51.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.57 and a beta of 0.63.

New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The utilities provider reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.15. New Jersey Resources had a net margin of 18.25% and a return on equity of 15.72%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.74 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that New Jersey Resources Co. will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

New Jersey Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.72%. New Jersey Resources’s payout ratio is currently 54.22%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Patrick J. Migliaccio sold 4,983 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,707,704. This trade represents a 11.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NJR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of New Jersey Resources from $54.00 to $52.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of New Jersey Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Guggenheim boosted their price target on shares of New Jersey Resources from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, New Jersey Resources has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $51.75.

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.