New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) Downgraded to Sell at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report released on Saturday morning.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on the company. Argus raised New Jersey Resources to a strong-buy rating in a report on Monday, June 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on New Jersey Resources from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th.

New Jersey Resources Stock Performance

Shares of NJR stock opened at $48.00 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $4.74 billion, a PE ratio of 18.97 and a beta of 0.59. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $45.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $43.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30. New Jersey Resources has a 52-week low of $38.92 and a 52-week high of $48.22.

New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported ($0.09) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.02) by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $275.64 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $283.56 million. New Jersey Resources had a return on equity of 11.06% and a net margin of 13.61%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.10 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that New Jersey Resources will post 2.95 EPS for the current year.

New Jersey Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 23rd will be given a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 23rd. This is a positive change from New Jersey Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.75%. New Jersey Resources’s dividend payout ratio is 71.15%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Stephen D. Westhoven sold 26,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.06, for a total value of $1,198,596.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 168,705 shares in the company, valued at $7,601,847.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Stephen D. Westhoven sold 3,400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total value of $153,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 195,305 shares in the company, valued at $8,788,725. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Stephen D. Westhoven sold 26,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.06, for a total value of $1,198,596.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 168,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,601,847.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of New Jersey Resources during the fourth quarter worth $33,403,000. Confluence Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of New Jersey Resources during the first quarter worth $19,337,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of New Jersey Resources by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,897,288 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $530,381,000 after buying an additional 332,420 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of New Jersey Resources by 192.9% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 387,950 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $16,581,000 after buying an additional 255,503 shares during the period. Finally, Energy Income Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of New Jersey Resources by 54.9% during the first quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC now owns 537,636 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $23,070,000 after buying an additional 190,500 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.