StockNews.com Upgrades New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) to Hold

New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) was upgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday.

NJR has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Guggenheim boosted 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, November 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on New Jersey Resources from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on New Jersey Resources from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on New Jersey Resources from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $49.75.

New Jersey Resources Price Performance

NJR stock opened at $50.20 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $47.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $45.63. The stock has a market cap of $5.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.19 and a beta of 0.63. New Jersey Resources has a fifty-two week low of $39.44 and a fifty-two week high of $51.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31.

New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.89. The company had revenue of $395.78 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $406.97 million. New Jersey Resources had a return on equity of 13.54% and a net margin of 16.13%. The firm’s revenue was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.30 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that New Jersey Resources will post 3.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of NJR. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in New Jersey Resources by 11.1% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 60,608 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,601,000 after acquiring an additional 6,039 shares during the period. Cetera Advisors LLC acquired a new position in New Jersey Resources during the first quarter worth $312,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in New Jersey Resources by 119.5% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,214 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 661 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in New Jersey Resources by 3.6% during the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 8,840 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $378,000 after purchasing an additional 307 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in New Jersey Resources by 29.1% during the second quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 26,159 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,118,000 after purchasing an additional 5,894 shares in the last quarter. 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.