New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) Cut to “Sell” at StockNews.com

New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) was downgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report issued on Saturday.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Argus raised shares of New Jersey Resources to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of New Jersey Resources from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th.

New Jersey Resources Stock Performance

Shares of NJR opened at $47.63 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.60. The company has a market capitalization of $4.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.83 and a beta of 0.59. New Jersey Resources has a 1 year low of $38.92 and a 1 year high of $47.64. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $45.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.78.

New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) last posted 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 company had revenue of $275.64 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.10 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that New Jersey Resources will post 2.95 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at New Jersey Resources

In other news, CEO Stephen D. Westhoven sold 26,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were 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 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 can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other New Jersey Resources news, CEO Stephen D. Westhoven sold 26,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.06, for a total value of $1,198,596.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 168,705 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,601,847.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 transaction of $153,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 195,305 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,788,725. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of New Jersey Resources

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of NJR. Truist Financial Corp acquired a new position in shares of New Jersey Resources in the 4th quarter valued at $222,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in New Jersey Resources by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 23,035 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,027,000 after acquiring an additional 712 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. raised its holdings in New Jersey Resources by 10.4% during the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 11,926 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $531,000 after buying an additional 1,126 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of New Jersey Resources by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 10,163 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $453,000 after purchasing an additional 997 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of New Jersey Resources by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,093,098 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $48,730,000 after purchasing an additional 16,289 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by 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.