New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR) CFO Roberto Bel Sells 2,346 Shares

New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR) CFO Roberto Bel sold 2,346 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.58, for a total value of $113,968.68. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 23,822 shares in the company, valued at $1,157,272.76. The trade was a 8.97 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

New Jersey Resources Stock Performance

Shares of NJR stock opened at $47.86 on Wednesday. New Jersey Resources Co. has a 52 week low of $40.62 and a 52 week high of $51.95. The company has a market capitalization of $4.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.42 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $47.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $47.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.89.

New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 15.72% and a net margin of 18.25%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.74 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that New Jersey Resources Co. will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current year.

New Jersey Resources Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.76%. New Jersey Resources’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.22%.

Institutional Trading of New Jersey Resources

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in New Jersey Resources by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,309,166 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $154,372,000 after purchasing an additional 216,000 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its position in shares of New Jersey Resources by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 2,591,445 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $120,891,000 after buying an additional 32,413 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of New Jersey Resources by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,366,381 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $111,714,000 after acquiring an additional 34,782 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of New Jersey Resources during the 4th quarter worth approximately $73,124,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in New Jersey Resources by 66.0% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,363,495 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $63,607,000 after acquiring an additional 542,089 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NJR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Guggenheim boosted their price target on New Jersey Resources from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com raised shares of New Jersey Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of New Jersey Resources from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of New Jersey Resources from $54.00 to $52.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, New Jersey Resources presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $51.75.

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.