StockNews.com Downgrades New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) to Sell

New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) was downgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a note issued to investors on Friday.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the company. Guggenheim raised 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. 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 report on Wednesday, November 27th. Mizuho increased 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of 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 report on Thursday, December 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.00.

New Jersey Resources Price Performance

NJR stock opened at $45.31 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $47.86 and a 200-day moving average of $46.43. The company has a market cap of $4.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.52 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31. New Jersey Resources has a 12-month low of $39.44 and a 12-month high of $51.94.

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, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89. New Jersey Resources had a net margin of 16.13% and a return on equity of 13.54%. The company had revenue of $395.78 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $406.97 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.30 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that New Jersey Resources will post 3.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at New Jersey Resources

In other news, COO Patrick J. Migliaccio sold 4,983 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.00, for a total value of $229,218.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 37,124 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,707,704. The trade was a 11.83 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in New Jersey Resources by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,956,772 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $126,372,000 after acquiring an additional 154,441 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of New Jersey Resources by 1.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,366,381 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $111,714,000 after purchasing an additional 34,782 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of New Jersey Resources by 2.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,227,815 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $57,953,000 after purchasing an additional 33,772 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 176,396 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in New Jersey Resources by 16.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 609,199 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,754,000 after purchasing an additional 86,742 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

New Jersey Resources Company 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.