DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale Sells 2,099 Shares of New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR)

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale trimmed its stake in shares of New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR) by 33.1% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 4,239 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,099 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale’s holdings in New Jersey Resources were worth $181,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in New Jersey Resources during the 4th quarter worth $33,403,000. Confluence Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of New Jersey Resources during the first quarter worth $19,337,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake 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 valued at $530,381,000 after acquiring an additional 332,420 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in New Jersey Resources by 192.9% in the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 387,950 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $16,581,000 after acquiring an additional 255,503 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Energy Income Partners LLC increased its position in New Jersey Resources by 54.9% in the first quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC now owns 537,636 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $23,070,000 after purchasing an additional 190,500 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of New Jersey Resources from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of New Jersey Resources from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. StockNews.com lowered shares of New Jersey Resources from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, September 14th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of New Jersey Resources to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 10th.

New Jersey Resources Price Performance

New Jersey Resources stock opened at $47.64 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.83 and a beta of 0.59. The business has a 50-day moving average of $46.02 and a 200-day moving average of $43.99. New Jersey Resources Co. has a 1 year low of $38.92 and a 1 year high of $48.68.

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

New Jersey Resources Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Monday, September 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.78%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 23rd. This is an increase from New Jersey Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. New Jersey Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.15%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other New Jersey Resources news, CEO Stephen D. Westhoven sold 26,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Stephen D. Westhoven sold 3,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 12th. The shares were 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 owns 195,305 shares in the company, valued at $8,788,725. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Stephen D. Westhoven sold 26,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.06, for a total transaction of $1,198,596.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 168,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,601,847.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

About New Jersey Resources

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.