Nicholson Wealth Management Group LLC Acquires New Shares in New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR)

Nicholson Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 20,039 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $946,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in New Jersey Resources by 39.9% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 618,379 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $26,430,000 after acquiring an additional 176,396 shares in the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of New Jersey Resources by 41.8% in the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 48,031 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,061,000 after acquiring an additional 14,150 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of New Jersey Resources in the 1st quarter worth about $1,635,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of New Jersey Resources by 192.9% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 387,950 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $16,581,000 after purchasing an additional 255,503 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of New Jersey Resources by 3.2% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,284,245 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $54,889,000 after acquiring an additional 40,094 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com upgraded New Jersey Resources from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, September 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of New Jersey Resources from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on New Jersey Resources from $47.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of New Jersey Resources from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $49.00.

New Jersey Resources Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NJR traded down $0.42 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $46.00. 348,383 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 489,512. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $46.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $44.68. The company has a market cap of $4.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.25 and a beta of 0.59. New Jersey Resources Co. has a 52 week low of $39.44 and a 52 week high of $48.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.41.

New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported ($0.09) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.02) by ($0.07). New Jersey Resources had a net margin of 13.61% and a return on equity of 11.06%. The company had revenue of $275.64 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $283.56 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.10 EPS. New Jersey Resources's revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that New Jersey Resources Co. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

New Jersey Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 23rd were given a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.91%. This is a positive change from New Jersey Resources's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 23rd. New Jersey Resources's dividend payout ratio is 75.31%.

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.