New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the five brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $49.75.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on NJR shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of New Jersey Resources from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of New Jersey Resources from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of New Jersey Resources from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on New Jersey Resources from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price target on New Jersey Resources from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th.

New Jersey Resources Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NJR opened at $51.58 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.41. New Jersey Resources has a 1-year low of $39.44 and a 1-year high of $51.94. The company has a market capitalization of $5.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.66 and a beta of 0.59. The business has a 50-day moving average of $47.28 and a 200-day moving average of $45.54.

New Jersey Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 11th. New Jersey Resources’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.64%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of NJR. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its stake in New Jersey Resources by 57.5% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 22,532 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,150,000 after acquiring an additional 8,230 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of New Jersey Resources in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $271,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in New Jersey Resources by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,366,381 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $111,714,000 after purchasing an additional 34,782 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its stake in New Jersey Resources by 140.0% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 189,827 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,959,000 after buying an additional 110,723 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC increased its position in New Jersey Resources by 14.5% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 8,621 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $407,000 after buying an additional 1,093 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.