Choreo LLC Purchases Shares of 8,970 New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR)

Choreo LLC purchased a new position in shares of New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 8,970 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $381,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in NJR. Wedbush Securities Inc. lifted its position in New Jersey Resources by 17.9% during the second quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 12,611 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $539,000 after buying an additional 1,911 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of New Jersey Resources during the 2nd quarter worth about $94,000. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its position in shares of New Jersey Resources by 2.4% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 27,520 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,176,000 after acquiring an additional 646 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in New Jersey Resources by 192.9% in the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 387,950 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $16,581,000 after purchasing an additional 255,503 shares during the period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI acquired a new position in New Jersey Resources during the second quarter worth approximately $2,173,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Stephen D. Westhoven sold 26,600 shares of New Jersey Resources stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.06, for a total transaction of $1,198,596.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 168,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,601,847.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other New Jersey Resources news, CEO Stephen D. Westhoven sold 26,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.06, for a total transaction of $1,198,596.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 168,705 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,601,847.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Stephen D. Westhoven sold 3,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total transaction of $153,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 195,305 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,788,725. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.75% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NJR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Argus upgraded shares of New Jersey Resources to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 10th. StockNews.com downgraded New Jersey Resources from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on New Jersey Resources from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th.

New Jersey Resources Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NJR opened at $48.00 on Tuesday. New Jersey Resources Co. has a 1-year low of $38.92 and a 1-year high of $48.22. The business has a 50-day moving average of $45.67 and a 200-day moving average of $43.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.41. The company has a market capitalization of $4.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.97 and a beta of 0.59.

New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported ($0.09) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.02) by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $275.64 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $283.56 million. New Jersey Resources had a return on equity of 11.06% and a net margin of 13.61%. The business’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.10 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that New Jersey Resources Co. will post 2.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

New Jersey Resources Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Monday, September 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.75%. This is a positive change from New Jersey Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 23rd. New Jersey Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.15%.

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.