Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Sells 22,751 Shares of New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA decreased its position in shares of New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR) by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 807,899 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 22,751 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in New Jersey Resources were worth $38,133,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of NJR. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of New Jersey Resources by 192.9% in the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 387,950 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $16,581,000 after acquiring an additional 255,503 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its position in shares of New Jersey Resources by 65.5% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 480,001 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $20,623,000 after purchasing an additional 190,028 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of New Jersey Resources by 39.9% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 618,379 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,430,000 after purchasing an additional 176,396 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of New Jersey Resources by 5.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,956,772 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $126,372,000 after buying an additional 154,441 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Algert Global LLC boosted its stake in shares of New Jersey Resources by 176.0% in the second quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 185,637 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,934,000 after buying an additional 118,377 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NJR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on New Jersey Resources from $47.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Mizuho boosted their price target on New Jersey Resources from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of New Jersey Resources from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of New Jersey Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $49.00.

New Jersey Resources Price Performance

Shares of NJR stock opened at $51.04 on Monday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $46.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $45.29. The company has a market cap of $5.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.36 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30. New Jersey Resources Co. has a twelve month low of $39.44 and a twelve month high of $51.16.

New Jersey Resources Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be paid a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.53%. New Jersey Resources’s payout ratio is currently 75.31%.

New Jersey Resources 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.