New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR) Shares Bought by Exchange Traded Concepts LLC

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its holdings in New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 225,250 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,988 shares during the quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC’s holdings in New Jersey Resources were worth $10,508,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of NJR. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its stake in New Jersey Resources by 17.3% in the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 206,209 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,620,000 after purchasing an additional 30,355 shares in the last quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of New Jersey Resources during the fourth quarter worth $125,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of New Jersey Resources by 69.8% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 839 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 345 shares during the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. grew its stake in New Jersey Resources by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 127,634 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,954,000 after purchasing an additional 3,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of New Jersey Resources by 18.8% in the fourth quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 39,514 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,843,000 after purchasing an additional 6,250 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at New Jersey Resources

In other news, COO Patrick J. Migliaccio sold 4,983 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.00, for a total transaction of $229,218.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 37,124 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,707,704. The trade was a 11.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of New Jersey Resources from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $52.00 to $54.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com cut shares of New Jersey Resources from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Guggenheim boosted their target price 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on New Jersey Resources from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, New Jersey Resources presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.00.

New Jersey Resources Stock Performance

NJR opened at $46.53 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $4.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.93 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $47.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $46.68. New Jersey Resources Co. has a 1 year low of $39.44 and a 1 year high of $51.94.

New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.89. New Jersey Resources had a net margin of 16.13% and a return on equity of 13.54%. The business had revenue of $395.78 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $406.97 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.30 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that New Jersey Resources Co. will post 3.1 earnings per share for the current year.

New Jersey Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be given a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.87%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. New Jersey Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.