New Jersey Resources (NJR) Competitors

New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) and National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG) are both mid-cap utilities companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, valuation, earnings, risk, institutional ownership, community ranking, profitability and media sentiment.

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer NJR or NFG?

National Fuel Gas received 127 more outperform votes than New Jersey Resources when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 65.36% of users gave National Fuel Gas an outperform vote while only 56.10% of users gave New Jersey Resources an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
New Jersey Resources	Outperform Votes 322 56.10%	Underperform Votes 252 43.90%
National Fuel Gas	Outperform Votes 449 65.36%	Underperform Votes 238 34.64%

Do analysts rate NJR or NFG?

New Jersey Resources currently has a consensus price target of $49.00, indicating a potential upside of 2.06%. National Fuel Gas has a consensus price target of $69.00, indicating a potential upside of 12.97%. Given National Fuel Gas' higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe National Fuel Gas is more favorable than New Jersey Resources.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
New Jersey Resources	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50
National Fuel Gas	1 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00

Is NJR or NFG more profitable?

New Jersey Resources has a net margin of 13.61% compared to National Fuel Gas' net margin of 3.99%. National Fuel Gas' return on equity of 14.88% beat New Jersey Resources' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
New Jersey Resources	13.61%	11.06%	3.47%
National Fuel Gas	3.99%	14.88%	5.43%

Which has more volatility and risk, NJR or NFG?

New Jersey Resources has a beta of 0.59, suggesting that its share price is 41% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, National Fuel Gas has a beta of 0.62, suggesting that its share price is 38% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is NJR or NFG a better dividend stock?

New Jersey Resources pays an annual dividend of $1.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. National Fuel Gas pays an annual dividend of $2.06 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. New Jersey Resources pays out 75.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. National Fuel Gas pays out 254.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. New Jersey Resources has increased its dividend for 29 consecutive years and National Fuel Gas has increased its dividend for 55 consecutive years. New Jersey Resources is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Does the media favor NJR or NFG?

In the previous week, National Fuel Gas had 6 more articles in the media than New Jersey Resources. MarketBeat recorded 8 mentions for National Fuel Gas and 2 mentions for New Jersey Resources. New Jersey Resources' average media sentiment score of 1.44 beat National Fuel Gas' score of 0.76 indicating that New Jersey Resources is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
New Jersey Resources	2 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
National Fuel Gas	5 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of NJR or NFG?

71.0% of New Jersey Resources shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 74.0% of National Fuel Gas shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.8% of New Jersey Resources shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.6% of National Fuel Gas shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Which has preferable earnings and valuation, NJR or NFG?

New Jersey Resources has higher revenue and earnings than National Fuel Gas. New Jersey Resources is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than National Fuel Gas, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
New Jersey Resources	$1.96B	2.43	$264.72M	$2.39	20.09
National Fuel Gas	$1.94B	2.87	$77.51M	$0.81	75.41

Summary

National Fuel Gas beats New Jersey Resources on 13 of the 22 factors compared between the two stocks.