Creative Planning Has $968,000 Stock Position in New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR)

Creative Planning raised its position in New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR) by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 20,514 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 481 shares during the period. Creative Planning’s holdings in New Jersey Resources were worth $968,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in New Jersey Resources by 192.9% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 387,950 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $16,581,000 after purchasing an additional 255,503 shares during the period. Energy Income Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its position in New Jersey Resources by 65.5% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 480,001 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $20,623,000 after acquiring an additional 190,028 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in New Jersey Resources by 39.9% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 618,379 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,430,000 after acquiring an additional 176,396 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of New Jersey Resources by 5.5% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,956,772 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $126,372,000 after purchasing an additional 154,441 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in 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 stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. StockNews.com cut shares of New Jersey Resources from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company raised 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. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of New Jersey Resources from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $49.00.

New Jersey Resources Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:NJR opened at $45.24 on Friday. New Jersey Resources Co. has a 52-week low of $39.44 and a 52-week high of $48.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.93 and a beta of 0.59. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $46.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $44.82. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data 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). New Jersey Resources had a net margin of 13.61% and a return on equity of 11.06%. The company had revenue of $275.64 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $283.56 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.10 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that New Jersey Resources Co. will post 2.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

New Jersey Resources Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.98%. This is an increase from New Jersey Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 23rd. New Jersey Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 75.31%.

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.