American International Group Inc. Sells 5,846 Shares of New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR)

American International Group Inc. cut its position in New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR) by 3.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 179,335 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 5,846 shares during the quarter. American International Group Inc. owned about 0.18% of New Jersey Resources worth $7,995,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Arkadios Wealth Advisors raised its stake in shares of New Jersey Resources by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 11,765 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $524,000 after buying an additional 265 shares during the period. ICW Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of New Jersey Resources by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC now owns 16,850 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $751,000 after buying an additional 305 shares during the period. Good Life Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of New Jersey Resources by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC now owns 33,337 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,486,000 after buying an additional 342 shares during the period. Jacobi Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of New Jersey Resources by 1.3% in the third quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 27,937 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,135,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its position in shares of New Jersey Resources by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 122,191 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,447,000 after purchasing an additional 373 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at New Jersey Resources

In other news, CEO Stephen D. Westhoven sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.82, for a total value of $856,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 198,705 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,508,548.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

New Jersey Resources Price Performance

New Jersey Resources stock opened at $41.86 on Thursday. New Jersey Resources Co. has a 52 week low of $38.92 and a 52 week high of $48.28. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $43.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The stock has a market cap of $4.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.55 and a beta of 0.61.

New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.08. New Jersey Resources had a return on equity of 12.16% and a net margin of 14.46%. The business had revenue of $657.91 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $669.64 million. On average, research analysts forecast that New Jersey Resources Co. will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

New Jersey Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 12th will be issued a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 12th. New Jersey Resources’s payout ratio is currently 66.40%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on NJR shares. StockNews.com upgraded New Jersey Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 16th. Argus upgraded New Jersey Resources to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $45.00.

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.