Roberto Bel Sells 1,173 Shares of New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR) Stock

New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR - Get Free Report) CFO Roberto Bel sold 1,173 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $58,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 22,649 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,132,450. This represents a 4.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Roberto Bel also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, March 24th, Roberto Bel sold 2,346 shares of New Jersey Resources stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.58, for a total transaction of $113,968.68.

New Jersey Resources Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NJR traded down $1.89 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $47.86. The stock had a trading volume of 1,080,475 shares, compared to its average volume of 516,219. The company has a market cap of $4.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.42 and a beta of 0.57. New Jersey Resources Co. has a twelve month low of $40.62 and a twelve month high of $51.95. The business's fifty day moving average is $47.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $47.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.61.

New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 3rd. The utilities provider reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 in the previous year, the business posted $0.74 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that New Jersey Resources Co. will post 3.15 EPS for the current year.

New Jersey Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th were paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 11th. New Jersey Resources's dividend payout ratio is 54.22%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On New Jersey Resources

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of New Jersey Resources by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,309,166 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $154,372,000 after buying an additional 216,000 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its stake in New Jersey Resources by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 2,591,445 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $120,891,000 after acquiring an additional 32,413 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of New Jersey Resources by 1.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,366,381 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $111,714,000 after acquiring an additional 34,782 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of New Jersey Resources in the 4th quarter worth about $73,124,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its position in shares of New Jersey Resources by 66.0% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,363,495 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $63,607,000 after purchasing an additional 542,089 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NJR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of New Jersey Resources from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on New Jersey Resources in a research report on Tuesday. They issued a "hold" rating and a $51.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of New Jersey Resources from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of New Jersey Resources from $54.00 to $52.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $51.60.

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.