New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) Rating Lowered to Sell at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report report published on Tuesday.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on NJR. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on New Jersey Resources from $47.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on New Jersey Resources from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on New Jersey Resources from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, New Jersey Resources currently 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 $50.71 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $47.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $45.38. New Jersey Resources has a twelve month low of $39.44 and a twelve month high of $51.80. The company has a market cap of $5.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.22 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30.

New Jersey Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.55%. New Jersey Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 75.31%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On New Jersey Resources

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of New Jersey Resources by 57.5% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 22,532 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,150,000 after buying an additional 8,230 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of New Jersey Resources in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $271,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of New Jersey Resources by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,366,381 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $111,714,000 after buying an additional 34,782 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of New Jersey Resources by 140.0% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of New Jersey Resources by 14.5% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

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.