JPMorgan Chase & Co. Purchases 86,742 Shares of New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR) by 16.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 609,199 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 86,742 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned 0.61% of New Jersey Resources worth $28,754,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of NJR. Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in New Jersey Resources by 4.4% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 364,311 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $15,571,000 after purchasing an additional 15,310 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI acquired a new stake in shares of New Jersey Resources in the second quarter valued at $2,173,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 255,503 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its position in New Jersey Resources by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 27,520 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,176,000 after buying an additional 646 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in New Jersey Resources during the 2nd quarter worth about $94,000. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of New Jersey Resources from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Mizuho boosted 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 report on Friday, September 20th. Guggenheim upped their price objective on New Jersey Resources from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised New Jersey Resources from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $52.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, StockNews.com raised New Jersey Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $51.00.

New Jersey Resources Price Performance

Shares of NJR stock opened at $45.69 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $47.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $46.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.62. New Jersey Resources Co. has a 52-week low of $39.44 and a 52-week high of $51.94. The stock has a market cap of $4.56 billion, a PE ratio of 15.65 and a beta of 0.64.

New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89. New Jersey Resources had a return on equity of 13.54% and a net margin of 16.13%. The business had revenue of $395.78 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $406.97 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.30 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that New Jersey Resources Co. will post 3.1 EPS for the current year.

New Jersey Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 11th were paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.94%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 11th. New Jersey Resources’s payout ratio is 61.64%.

Insider Activity at New Jersey Resources

In other New Jersey Resources news, COO Patrick J. Migliaccio sold 4,983 shares of New Jersey Resources stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.00, for a total transaction of $229,218.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 37,124 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,707,704. The trade was a 11.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

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.