New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) Upgraded at StockNews.com

New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) was upgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Sunday.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on the stock. 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 report on Friday. Argus raised shares of New Jersey Resources to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of New Jersey Resources from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th.

New Jersey Resources Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE NJR opened at $47.64 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.60. The firm has a market cap of $4.71 billion, a PE ratio of 18.83 and a beta of 0.59. New Jersey Resources has a one year low of $38.92 and a one year high of $48.68. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $46.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $44.00.

New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported ($0.09) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.02) by ($0.07). New Jersey Resources had a return on equity of 11.06% and a net margin of 13.61%. The firm had revenue of $275.64 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $283.56 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.10 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that New Jersey Resources will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at New Jersey Resources

In other news, CEO Stephen D. Westhoven sold 26,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.06, for a total value of $1,198,596.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 168,705 shares in the company, valued at $7,601,847.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other New Jersey Resources news, CEO Stephen D. Westhoven sold 26,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.06, for a total transaction of $1,198,596.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 168,705 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,601,847.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Stephen D. Westhoven sold 3,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total transaction of $153,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 195,305 shares in the company, valued at $8,788,725. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of New Jersey Resources by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,897,288 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $530,381,000 after buying an additional 332,420 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of 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 worth $126,372,000 after acquiring an additional 154,441 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of New Jersey Resources by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,284,245 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $54,889,000 after acquiring an additional 40,094 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of New Jersey Resources by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 917,203 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,357,000 after acquiring an additional 8,843 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of New Jersey Resources by 12.7% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 819,693 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,542,000 after acquiring an additional 92,152 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.