New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Hold Rating

StockNews.com upgraded shares of New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR - Free Report) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Wednesday morning.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on NJR. 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. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective 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. Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of 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, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of New Jersey Resources from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, New Jersey Resources presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $49.75.

New Jersey Resources Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NJR stock traded down $0.05 on Wednesday, hitting $50.12. The stock had a trading volume of 455,124 shares, compared to its average volume of 488,433. New Jersey Resources has a twelve month low of $39.44 and a twelve month high of $51.94. The firm has a market cap of $5.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.16 and a beta of 0.63. 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 fifty day moving average price of $47.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $45.66.

New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.89. The company had revenue of $395.78 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $406.97 million. New Jersey Resources had a net margin of 16.13% and a return on equity of 13.54%. The firm's revenue was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.30 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that New Jersey Resources will post 3.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

New Jersey Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be paid a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.59%. New Jersey Resources's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.64%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On New Jersey Resources

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of NJR. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in New Jersey Resources by 5.5% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,956,772 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $126,372,000 after acquiring an additional 154,441 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in 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 worth $111,714,000 after acquiring an additional 34,782 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in New Jersey Resources by 3.2% during 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. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in New Jersey Resources by 2.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,227,815 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $57,953,000 after acquiring an additional 33,772 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted 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 acquiring an additional 176,396 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.