New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR) Plans $0.42 Quarterly Dividend

New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, April 18th, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 12th will be paid a dividend of 0.42 per share by the utilities provider on Monday, July 1st. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.87%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 12th.

New Jersey Resources has increased its dividend payment by an average of 7.9% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 28 years. New Jersey Resources has a dividend payout ratio of 58.7% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect New Jersey Resources to earn $2.88 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.68 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 58.3%.

New Jersey Resources Trading Up 2.8 %

Shares of New Jersey Resources stock opened at $43.36 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $42.12 and a 200-day moving average of $42.46. The stock has a market cap of $4.26 billion, a PE ratio of 17.77 and a beta of 0.64. New Jersey Resources has a 52-week low of $38.92 and a 52-week high of $53.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.70.

New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by ($0.15). The business had revenue of $467.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $812.66 million. New Jersey Resources had a net margin of 13.96% and a return on equity of 11.13%. The company’s revenue was down 35.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.14 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that New Jersey Resources will post 2.94 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of NJR. Quarry LP acquired a new position in New Jersey Resources during the second quarter worth about $38,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its stake in New Jersey Resources by 71.2% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 914 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 380 shares in the last quarter. PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in New Jersey Resources during the second quarter worth about $73,000. IFP Advisors Inc raised its stake in New Jersey Resources by 264.7% during the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,641 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $77,000 after acquiring an additional 1,191 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gotham Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in New Jersey Resources during the third quarter worth about $201,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on NJR shares. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of New Jersey Resources from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 5th. StockNews.com raised shares of New Jersey Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th.

New Jersey 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.