Rhumbline Advisers Acquires 1,037 Shares of New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR)

Rhumbline Advisers lifted its holdings in New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 352,140 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,037 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers’ holdings in New Jersey Resources were worth $16,427,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NJR. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of New Jersey Resources in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in New Jersey Resources by 9,400.0% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 665 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 658 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in New Jersey Resources by 69.8% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 839 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 345 shares during the period. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new position in New Jersey Resources during the fourth quarter worth $51,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp bought a new position in New Jersey Resources during the third quarter valued at $52,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Patrick J. Migliaccio sold 4,983 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.00, for a total value of $229,218.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 37,124 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,707,704. The trade was a 11.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.72% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on NJR shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of New Jersey Resources from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Guggenheim boosted their target price on New Jersey Resources from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on New Jersey Resources from $54.00 to $52.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded New Jersey Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Four research 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, New Jersey Resources presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $51.75.

New Jersey Resources Price Performance

Shares of NJR stock opened at $46.85 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $46.64 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $46.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.61. New Jersey Resources Co. has a one year low of $40.51 and a one year high of $51.94. The company has a market capitalization of $4.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.11 and a beta of 0.63.

New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 3rd. The utilities provider reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 period in the previous year, the company earned $0.74 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that New Jersey Resources Co. will post 3.15 EPS for the current year.

New Jersey Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors 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 dividend yield of 3.84%. New Jersey Resources’s payout ratio is currently 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.