Geode Capital Management LLC Has $111.71 Million Stock Holdings in New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR)

Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR - Free Report) by 1.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,366,381 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 34,782 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned about 2.39% of New Jersey Resources worth $111,714,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NJR. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of New Jersey Resources in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in New Jersey Resources during the third quarter worth $27,000. Van ECK Associates Corp acquired a new stake in New Jersey Resources in the third quarter valued at $52,000. Spirit of America Management Corp NY grew its position in shares of New Jersey Resources by 140.0% in the 3rd quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY now owns 1,200 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 700 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of New Jersey Resources during the 2nd quarter worth about $76,000. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on NJR. Mizuho lifted their price target on New Jersey Resources from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. StockNews.com upgraded New Jersey Resources from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on New Jersey Resources from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of New Jersey Resources from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $52.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of New Jersey Resources from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Four investment 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, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $51.00.

New Jersey Resources Stock Performance

NYSE:NJR traded up $0.63 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $46.03. 522,298 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 491,903. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $47.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $46.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.76 and a beta of 0.63. New Jersey Resources Co. has a fifty-two week low of $39.44 and a fifty-two week high of $51.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.62.

New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.89. The firm had revenue of $395.78 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $406.97 million. New Jersey Resources had a return on equity of 13.54% and a net margin of 16.13%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.30 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that New Jersey Resources Co. will post 3.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

New Jersey Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 11th. New Jersey Resources's dividend payout ratio is currently 61.64%.

New Jersey Resources 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.