Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC Cuts Holdings in New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR)

Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC cut its stake in shares of New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR) by 4.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 17,665 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 750 shares during the quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in New Jersey Resources were worth $824,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NJR. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of New Jersey Resources during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of New Jersey Resources in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of New Jersey Resources during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in New Jersey Resources by 9,400.0% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 665 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 658 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in New Jersey Resources by 69.8% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 839 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on NJR. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of New Jersey Resources from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. StockNews.com raised New Jersey Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of New Jersey Resources from $54.00 to $52.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Guggenheim increased their price target on shares of New Jersey Resources from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, New Jersey Resources currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $51.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Patrick J. Migliaccio sold 4,983 shares of New Jersey Resources stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.00, for a total transaction of $229,218.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 37,124 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,707,704. The trade was a 11.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

New Jersey Resources Stock Performance

Shares of NJR opened at $45.68 on Monday. New Jersey Resources Co. has a 1 year low of $40.51 and a 1 year high of $51.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.76 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.89. The company’s fifty day moving average is $46.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $46.87.

New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 3rd. The utilities provider reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.15. New Jersey Resources had a net margin of 18.25% and a return on equity of 15.72%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.74 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. New Jersey Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.22%.

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.