Insider Selling: New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR) CFO Sells $113,968.68 in Stock

New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR) CFO Roberto Bel sold 2,346 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.58, for a total transaction of $113,968.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 23,822 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,157,272.76. This trade represents a 8.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

New Jersey Resources Stock Performance

New Jersey Resources stock opened at $48.41 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.58 and a beta of 0.57. New Jersey Resources Co. has a 1-year low of $40.62 and a 1-year high of $51.95. The company’s 50-day moving average is $47.55 and its 200 day moving average is $47.35.

New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) last issued its quarterly 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 return on equity of 15.72% and a net margin of 18.25%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.74 EPS. Research analysts forecast that New Jersey Resources Co. will post 3.15 EPS for the current year.

New Jersey Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.72%. New Jersey Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.22%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its stake in New Jersey Resources by 110.5% in the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 18,897 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $892,000 after acquiring an additional 9,918 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted 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 purchasing an additional 33,772 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. grew its stake in New Jersey Resources by 153.1% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 93,876 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,431,000 after purchasing an additional 56,789 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd increased its holdings in New Jersey Resources by 247.5% during the 3rd quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 31,646 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,494,000 after purchasing an additional 22,538 shares during the period. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in New Jersey Resources during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,001,000. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on NJR shares. StockNews.com raised shares of New Jersey Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on New Jersey Resources from $54.00 to $52.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Guggenheim upped their price objective on New Jersey Resources from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Four 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.