Cable Hill Partners LLC Makes New Investment in New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR)

Cable Hill Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 4,721 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $222,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of New Jersey Resources in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of New Jersey Resources in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of New Jersey Resources by 9,400.0% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 665 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 658 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in shares of New Jersey Resources by 69.8% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 839 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of New Jersey Resources in the 4th quarter worth approximately $51,000. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of New Jersey Resources from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of New Jersey Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. 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. Finally, Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of New Jersey Resources from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Four investment 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $51.75.

New Jersey Resources Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:NJR opened at $47.86 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.89. The company has a market cap of $4.80 billion, a PE ratio of 14.42 and a beta of 0.63. New Jersey Resources Co. has a 52 week low of $40.62 and a 52 week high of $51.94. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $46.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $46.97.

New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The utilities provider reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business posted $0.74 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that New Jersey Resources Co. will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current year.

New Jersey Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be given a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.76%. New Jersey Resources’s payout ratio is 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.