New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) Now Covered by Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR - Free Report) in a research report released on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm issued a hold rating and a $51.00 target price on the utilities provider's stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on NJR. StockNews.com upgraded New Jersey Resources from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Guggenheim raised their price objective on New Jersey Resources from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of New Jersey Resources from $54.00 to $52.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $51.60.

New Jersey Resources Price Performance

NJR traded down $1.89 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $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 debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.89. The business has a fifty day moving average of $47.79 and a 200 day moving average of $47.45. The company has a market cap of $4.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.42 and a beta of 0.57. New Jersey Resources has a 1 year low of $40.62 and a 1 year high of $51.95.

New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The utilities provider reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 earned $0.74 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that New Jersey Resources will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

New Jersey Resources Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at New Jersey Resources

In other New Jersey Resources news, CFO Roberto Bel sold 1,173 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The shares were 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 directly owns 22,649 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,132,450. The trade was a 4.92 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.72% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of New Jersey Resources

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its position in shares of New Jersey Resources by 59.0% during 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 purchasing an additional 12,353 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of New Jersey Resources by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,211,702 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $56,526,000 after acquiring an additional 96,393 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp bought a new stake in shares of New Jersey Resources during the 4th quarter valued at $429,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of New Jersey Resources in the 4th quarter worth $3,665,000. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP raised its holdings in New Jersey Resources by 22.2% in the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 60,162 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,840,000 after purchasing an additional 10,946 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company's stock.

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.