NewJersey Resources Corporation $NJR Shares Sold by Confluence Investment Management LLC

Confluence Investment Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of NewJersey Resources Corporation (NYSE:NJR) by 2.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 431,907 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 8,796 shares during the quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC’s holdings in NewJersey Resources were worth $19,358,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NJR. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its position in NewJersey Resources by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 16,345 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $763,000 after acquiring an additional 706 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in shares of NewJersey Resources by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 11,569 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $540,000 after buying an additional 555 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG raised its stake in shares of NewJersey Resources by 48.5% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 190,062 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,866,000 after buying an additional 62,050 shares in the last quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of NewJersey Resources in the 4th quarter worth $458,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of NewJersey Resources by 6,245.8% in the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,523 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $71,000 after buying an additional 1,499 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on NJR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on NewJersey Resources from $56.00 to $51.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Wall Street Zen raised NewJersey Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $50.00 price objective (up previously from $49.00) on shares of NewJersey Resources in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.43.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Patrick J. Migliaccio sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.22, for a total transaction of $66,330.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 35,690 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,578,211.80. The trade was a 4.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.72% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

NewJersey Resources Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NewJersey Resources stock opened at $47.16 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $46.57 and its 200-day moving average is $46.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.74 billion, a PE ratio of 11.53 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. NewJersey Resources Corporation has a 12-month low of $43.80 and a 12-month high of $51.94.

NewJersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.06) by $0.12. The company had revenue of $298.95 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $305.05 million. NewJersey Resources had a return on equity of 17.08% and a net margin of 19.64%.NewJersey Resources’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.09) earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that NewJersey Resources Corporation will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current year.

NewJersey Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. This is a boost from NewJersey Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 22nd. NewJersey Resources’s payout ratio is presently 44.01%.

NewJersey 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.