Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Has $9.62 Million Holdings in New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its position in shares of New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR - Free Report) by 17.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 206,209 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 30,355 shares during the quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC owned approximately 0.21% of New Jersey Resources worth $9,620,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of New Jersey Resources during the 3rd quarter worth about $8,590,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in New Jersey Resources by 39.9% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 618,379 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $26,430,000 after purchasing an additional 176,396 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its stake in New Jersey Resources by 8,995.5% during the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 157,079 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $7,414,000 after purchasing an additional 155,352 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of New Jersey Resources by 140.0% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 189,827 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $8,959,000 after buying an additional 110,723 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of New Jersey Resources by 698.7% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 113,402 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $5,353,000 after buying an additional 99,204 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other New Jersey Resources 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 owns 37,124 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,707,704. The trade was a 11.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.72% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on NJR shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on New Jersey Resources from $54.00 to $52.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of New Jersey Resources from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on New Jersey Resources from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered New Jersey Resources from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $50.50.

New Jersey Resources Stock Up 0.2 %

NYSE NJR traded up $0.11 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $48.00. 417,597 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 511,019. New Jersey Resources Co. has a 1-year low of $39.44 and a 1-year high of $51.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31. The company has a market cap of $4.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.44 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $47.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $46.83.

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

New Jersey Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. New Jersey Resources's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.64%.

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.