Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Buys 1,971 Shares of New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System raised its stake in New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR) by 2.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 83,990 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,971 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System owned approximately 0.09% of New Jersey Resources worth $3,478,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Arkadios Wealth Advisors grew its stake in New Jersey Resources by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 11,765 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $524,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares in the last quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in New Jersey Resources by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC now owns 16,850 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $751,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares in the last quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of New Jersey Resources by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC now owns 33,337 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,486,000 after buying an additional 342 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its position in shares of New Jersey Resources by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 122,191 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,447,000 after buying an additional 373 shares during the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of New Jersey Resources by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,984 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $267,000 after buying an additional 389 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at New Jersey Resources

In other news, CEO Stephen D. Westhoven sold 20,000 shares of New Jersey Resources stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.82, for a total value of $856,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 198,705 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,508,548.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

New Jersey Resources Stock Performance

NYSE:NJR traded down $0.05 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $42.31. 24,289 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 512,186. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.74 and a beta of 0.60. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $43.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.70. New Jersey Resources Co. has a fifty-two week low of $38.92 and a fifty-two week high of $47.04.

New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $657.91 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $669.64 million. New Jersey Resources had a return on equity of 12.16% and a net margin of 14.46%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that New Jersey Resources Co. will post 2.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

New Jersey Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 12th were issued a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 12th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.97%. New Jersey Resources’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.40%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Argus raised New Jersey Resources to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 10th. StockNews.com raised New Jersey Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.00.

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.