Raymond James Begins Coverage on New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR)

Raymond James initiated coverage on shares of New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) in a research report report published on Friday, Marketbeat reports. The firm issued an outperform rating and a $49.00 target price on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on NJR. Wall Street Zen raised New Jersey Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of New Jersey Resources from $56.00 to $51.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of New Jersey Resources in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued a “hold” rating and a $51.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of New Jersey Resources from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of New Jersey Resources from $52.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, New Jersey Resources currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.29.

New Jersey Resources Stock Down 0.8%

NJR stock opened at $44.53 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $47.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $47.42. The company has a market capitalization of $4.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.41 and a beta of 0.62. New Jersey Resources has a 52 week low of $41.68 and a 52 week high of $51.95. 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 (NYSE:NJR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.11. New Jersey Resources had a net margin of 18.25% and a return on equity of 15.72%. The business had revenue of $913.03 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $732.00 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.41 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 38.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that New Jersey Resources will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

New Jersey Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be paid a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.04%. New Jersey Resources’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.69%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Roberto Bel sold 2,346 shares of New Jersey Resources stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.58, for a total value of $113,968.68. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 23,822 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,157,272.76. This trade represents a 8.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On New Jersey Resources

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new position in New Jersey Resources during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of New Jersey Resources during the first quarter valued at $37,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of New Jersey Resources by 42.0% during the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 839 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new position in New Jersey Resources during the fourth quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new stake in New Jersey Resources in the 4th quarter worth about $51,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.