New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR) Shares Purchased by American Century Companies Inc.

American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR) by 19.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 27,361 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,538 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in New Jersey Resources were worth $1,276,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in New Jersey Resources by 1.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,366,381 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $111,714,000 after purchasing an additional 34,782 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of New Jersey Resources by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,267,456 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $59,127,000 after buying an additional 39,641 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of New Jersey Resources by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,211,702 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $56,526,000 after buying an additional 96,393 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of New Jersey Resources by 16.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 609,199 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,754,000 after buying an additional 86,742 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in New Jersey Resources by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 364,026 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $16,982,000 after acquiring an additional 6,280 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NJR has been the subject of several research analyst reports. New Street Research set a $51.00 target price on shares of New Jersey Resources in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on New Jersey Resources in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They set a “hold” rating and a $51.00 price objective on the stock. Guggenheim lifted their target price 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 New Jersey Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of New Jersey Resources from $54.00 to $52.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at New Jersey Resources

In other news, CFO Roberto Bel sold 1,173 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $58,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 22,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,132,450. This represents a 4.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.72% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

New Jersey Resources Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of New Jersey Resources stock opened at $47.57 on Friday. New Jersey Resources Co. has a twelve month low of $40.62 and a twelve month high of $51.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.33 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $47.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $47.43.

New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The utilities provider reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 period in the previous year, the business earned $0.74 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that New Jersey Resources Co. will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current year.

New Jersey Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th were given a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.78%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 11th. New Jersey Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.