Cibc World Markets Corp Invests $429,000 in New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR)

Cibc World Markets Corp bought a new stake in shares of New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 9,195 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $429,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of New Jersey Resources by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,227,815 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $57,953,000 after purchasing an additional 33,772 shares in the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. raised its stake in New Jersey Resources by 59.0% in the fourth quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 33,276 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,552,000 after buying an additional 12,353 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in New Jersey Resources by 8.6% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,211,702 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $56,526,000 after buying an additional 96,393 shares during the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP boosted its holdings in New Jersey Resources by 22.2% in the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 60,162 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,840,000 after acquiring an additional 10,946 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of New Jersey Resources by 18.8% during the fourth quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 39,514 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,843,000 after acquiring an additional 6,250 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NJR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of New Jersey Resources from $54.00 to $52.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of New Jersey Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of New Jersey Resources from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on New Jersey Resources from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $51.75.

New Jersey Resources Stock Performance

NJR opened at $48.46 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. New Jersey Resources Co. has a 12-month low of $40.62 and a 12-month high of $51.95. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $47.40 and a two-hundred day moving average of $47.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.86 billion, a PE ratio of 14.59 and a beta of 0.57.

New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 3rd. The utilities provider reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.15. New Jersey Resources had a net margin of 18.25% and a return on equity of 15.72%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.74 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that New Jersey Resources Co. will post 3.15 EPS for the current year.

New Jersey Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be paid a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.71%. New Jersey Resources’s payout ratio is currently 54.22%.

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.