Verition Fund Management LLC Sells 10,582 Shares of New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR)

Verition Fund Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR - Free Report) by 21.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 38,126 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 10,582 shares during the quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC's holdings in New Jersey Resources were worth $1,800,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of New Jersey Resources during the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of New Jersey Resources during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of New Jersey Resources by 119.5% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,214 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 661 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp bought a new position in shares of New Jersey Resources in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $52,000. Finally, Spirit of America Management Corp NY lifted its stake in shares of New Jersey Resources by 140.0% in the 3rd quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY now owns 1,200 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Mizuho upped their price target on New Jersey Resources from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. StockNews.com raised shares of New Jersey Resources from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of New Jersey Resources from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Wells Fargo & Company upped 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 report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of New Jersey Resources from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, New Jersey Resources has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $49.75.

New Jersey Resources Stock Down 1.2 %

NYSE:NJR traded down $0.62 on Friday, reaching $49.18. 469,031 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 487,691. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $47.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $45.72. The company has a market capitalization of $4.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.84 and a beta of 0.63. New Jersey Resources Co. has a 12 month low of $39.44 and a 12 month 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.

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

New Jersey Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.66%. New Jersey Resources's payout ratio is 61.64%.

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.