The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Sells 3,764 Shares of New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lessened its stake in New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR) by 3.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 115,810 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 3,764 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned about 0.12% of New Jersey Resources worth $5,466,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in New Jersey Resources during the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of New Jersey Resources during the second quarter worth about $31,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of New Jersey Resources by 119.5% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,214 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 661 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp acquired a new position in shares of New Jersey Resources in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Finally, Spirit of America Management Corp NY increased its stake in New Jersey Resources by 140.0% during the 3rd quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY now owns 1,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on NJR. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of New Jersey Resources from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of New Jersey Resources from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Mizuho increased their target price on New Jersey Resources from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Guggenheim boosted their price target on New Jersey Resources from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, StockNews.com raised New Jersey Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Five 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, New Jersey Resources presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $49.75.

New Jersey Resources Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:NJR opened at $49.79 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $47.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $45.69. New Jersey Resources Co. has a one year low of $39.44 and a one year high of $51.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.97 billion, a PE ratio of 17.05 and a beta of 0.63.

New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.89. The business 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%. New Jersey Resources’s revenue was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.30 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that New Jersey Resources Co. will post 3.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

New Jersey Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 11th. New Jersey Resources’s dividend payout ratio is 61.64%.

New Jersey Resources Profile

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.