Wellington Management Group LLP Sells 8,523 Shares of New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR)

Wellington Management Group LLP reduced its holdings in New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR) by 2.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 333,257 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 8,523 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP owned about 0.34% of New Jersey Resources worth $15,730,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in NJR. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in New Jersey Resources in the third quarter worth $27,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of New Jersey Resources during the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of New Jersey Resources during the second quarter valued at about $31,000. Van ECK Associates Corp bought a new position in New Jersey Resources in the third quarter worth about $52,000. Finally, Spirit of America Management Corp NY lifted its holdings in New Jersey Resources by 140.0% in the third quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY now owns 1,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 700 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NJR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on New Jersey Resources from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised New Jersey Resources from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $52.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Thursday. Mizuho raised their price objective on New Jersey Resources from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Guggenheim increased their price target on shares of New Jersey Resources from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of New Jersey Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, New Jersey Resources has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $51.00.

New Jersey Resources Stock Performance

Shares of New Jersey Resources stock opened at $47.55 on Friday. New Jersey Resources Co. has a 1 year low of $39.44 and a 1 year high of $51.94. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $47.75 and its 200 day moving average is $45.92. The stock has a market cap of $4.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.28 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.36.

New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89. New Jersey Resources had a net margin of 16.13% and a return on equity of 13.54%. The firm had revenue of $395.78 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $406.97 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.30 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that New Jersey Resources Co. will post 3.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

New Jersey Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 11th. New Jersey Resources’s payout ratio is currently 61.64%.

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.