JPMorgan Chase & Co. Cuts New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) Price Target to $52.00

New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) had its price target trimmed by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $54.00 to $52.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. StockNews.com cut New Jersey Resources from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of New Jersey Resources from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of New Jersey Resources from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $50.50.

New Jersey Resources Stock Performance

Shares of NJR stock opened at $47.90 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $47.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $46.82. New Jersey Resources has a 12 month low of $39.44 and a 12 month high of $51.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.78 billion, a PE ratio of 16.40 and a beta of 0.64.

New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.89. New Jersey Resources had a net margin of 16.13% and a return on equity of 13.54%. The company had revenue of $395.78 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $406.97 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.30 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that New Jersey Resources will post 3.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

New Jersey Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. New Jersey Resources’s payout ratio is 61.64%.

Insider Activity at New Jersey Resources

In other New Jersey Resources news, COO Patrick J. Migliaccio sold 4,983 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.00, for a total transaction of $229,218.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 37,124 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,707,704. This represents a 11.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.72% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in NJR. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in New Jersey Resources during the third quarter valued at about $8,590,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its holdings in New Jersey Resources by 8,995.5% in the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 157,079 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,414,000 after buying an additional 155,352 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its stake in New Jersey Resources by 140.0% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 189,827 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,959,000 after buying an additional 110,723 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in New Jersey Resources by 698.7% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 113,402 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,353,000 after acquiring an additional 99,204 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of New Jersey Resources by 16.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 609,199 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,754,000 after acquiring an additional 86,742 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

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.