New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR) Receives $49.00 Average PT from Brokerages

New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR) has received an average rating of “Hold” from the five ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $49.75.

A number of research firms recently commented on NJR. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of New Jersey Resources from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Guggenheim increased their target price on New Jersey Resources from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. StockNews.com downgraded New Jersey Resources from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on New Jersey Resources from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price 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 Stock Performance

NJR opened at $51.58 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31. The firm has a market cap of $5.12 billion, a PE ratio of 17.66 and a beta of 0.59. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $47.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $45.52. New Jersey Resources has a fifty-two week low of $39.44 and a fifty-two week high of $51.94.

New Jersey Resources Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.49%. New Jersey Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.64%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in New Jersey Resources by 39.9% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 618,379 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,430,000 after acquiring an additional 176,396 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of New Jersey Resources by 192.9% during 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. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of New Jersey Resources by 4,620.0% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 83,638 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,948,000 after purchasing an additional 81,866 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in New Jersey Resources by 3.2% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,284,245 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $54,889,000 after purchasing an additional 40,094 shares during the period. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its holdings in New Jersey Resources by 10.1% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 155,658 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,653,000 after buying an additional 14,338 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

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.