Captrust Financial Advisors Increases Position in New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR)

Captrust Financial Advisors raised its position in New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR) by 4.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,345 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 706 shares during the quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors’ holdings in New Jersey Resources were worth $763,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its position in New Jersey Resources by 476.3% in the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 133,846 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,244,000 after purchasing an additional 110,621 shares during the period. Bayesian Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of New Jersey Resources in the fourth quarter worth $588,000. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of New Jersey Resources by 25.9% in the fourth quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 116,229 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,423,000 after acquiring an additional 23,907 shares in the last quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of New Jersey Resources by 75.2% in the fourth quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 15,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $714,000 after acquiring an additional 6,569 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lido Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of New Jersey Resources by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 27,807 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,310,000 after acquiring an additional 1,423 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NJR has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of New Jersey Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of New Jersey Resources from $52.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. New Street Research set a $51.00 price target on shares of New Jersey Resources in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of New Jersey Resources from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of New Jersey Resources from $54.00 to $52.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.83.

Insider Buying and Selling at New Jersey Resources

In other news, CFO Roberto Bel sold 2,346 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.58, for a total value of $113,968.68. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 23,822 shares in the company, valued at $1,157,272.76. This represents a 8.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

New Jersey Resources Trading Up 0.7%

NYSE NJR opened at $46.56 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.02 and a beta of 0.66. New Jersey Resources Co. has a 52-week low of $41.58 and a 52-week high of $51.95. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $48.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $47.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29.

New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.11. New Jersey Resources had a net margin of 18.25% and a return on equity of 15.72%. The firm had revenue of $913.03 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $732.00 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.41 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 38.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that New Jersey Resources Co. will post 3.15 EPS for the current year.

New Jersey Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.87%. New Jersey Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.69%.

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.