New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR) Shares Purchased by Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR - Free Report) by 18.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 39,514 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 6,250 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in New Jersey Resources were worth $1,843,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. raised its holdings in New Jersey Resources by 59.0% in the 4th quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 33,276 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,552,000 after acquiring an additional 12,353 shares during the last quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC increased its holdings in shares of New Jersey Resources by 2,500.0% in the fourth quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 10,400 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $485,000 after purchasing an additional 10,000 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in New Jersey Resources by 23.6% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,288 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $107,000 after buying an additional 437 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in New Jersey Resources by 9,400.0% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 665 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 658 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in New Jersey Resources by 16.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 609,199 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $28,754,000 after buying an additional 86,742 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Patrick J. Migliaccio sold 4,983 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.00, for a total transaction of $229,218.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 37,124 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,707,704. The trade was a 11.83 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.72% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on NJR shares. StockNews.com lowered New Jersey Resources from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of New Jersey Resources from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price target for the company from $52.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of New Jersey Resources from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Guggenheim upped their price objective on New Jersey Resources from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $51.00.

New Jersey Resources Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:NJR traded down $0.07 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $47.34. 826,780 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 433,750. New Jersey Resources Co. has a 1 year low of $39.44 and a 1 year high of $51.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $47.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $46.57. The firm has a market cap of $4.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.21 and a beta of 0.64.

New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.89. New Jersey Resources had a return on equity of 13.54% and a net margin of 16.13%. The business had revenue of $395.78 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $406.97 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.30 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that New Jersey Resources Co. will post 3.1 EPS for the current year.

New Jersey Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th were paid a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 11th. New Jersey Resources's payout ratio is 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.