V Square Quantitative Management LLC Invests $27,000 in New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR)

V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in shares of New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR) during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 581 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $27,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its position in shares of New Jersey Resources by 2.8% during the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 9,357 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $402,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of New Jersey Resources by 3.6% during the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 8,840 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $378,000 after acquiring an additional 307 shares during the last quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of New Jersey Resources by 1.0% during the third quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC now owns 34,316 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,620,000 after acquiring an additional 333 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. grew its position in shares of New Jersey Resources by 0.9% during the first quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 46,847 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,010,000 after acquiring an additional 416 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arkadios Wealth Advisors grew its position in shares of New Jersey Resources by 3.6% during the first quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 12,193 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $523,000 after acquiring an additional 428 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on NJR shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of New Jersey Resources from $47.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of New Jersey Resources from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of New Jersey Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, September 22nd. Finally, 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 report on Thursday, August 15th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $49.00.

New Jersey Resources Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NJR opened at $46.61 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.42 and a beta of 0.59. New Jersey Resources Co. has a one year low of $39.44 and a one year high of $48.68. The company’s fifty day moving average is $46.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $44.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.60.

New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported ($0.09) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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%. New Jersey Resources’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.10 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that New Jersey Resources Co. will post 2.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

New Jersey Resources Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.86%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 23rd. This is an increase from New Jersey Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. New Jersey Resources’s payout ratio is 71.15%.

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.