Inspire Investing LLC Buys 515 Shares of New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR)

Inspire Investing LLC grew its stake in New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR) by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,698 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 515 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC’s holdings in New Jersey Resources were worth $411,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of NJR. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake 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 valued at $530,381,000 after purchasing an additional 332,420 shares during the last quarter. 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 worth $16,581,000 after buying an additional 255,503 shares during the period. Energy Income Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of New Jersey Resources by 54.9% in the first quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC now owns 537,636 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $23,070,000 after buying an additional 190,500 shares during the period. Boston Partners raised its holdings in shares of New Jersey Resources by 65.5% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 480,001 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $20,623,000 after buying an additional 190,028 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of New Jersey Resources by 39.9% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 618,379 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,430,000 after buying an additional 176,396 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on NJR. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on New Jersey Resources from $47.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. StockNews.com upgraded New Jersey Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, September 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on New Jersey Resources from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price target on New Jersey Resources from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $49.00.

New Jersey Resources Trading Up 0.0 %

NJR opened at $47.02 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $46.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $44.56. The company has a market capitalization of $4.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.58 and a beta of 0.59. New Jersey Resources Co. has a 52 week low of $39.44 and a 52 week high of $48.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30.

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

New Jersey Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 23rd were issued a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 23rd. This is an increase from New Jersey Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.83%. New Jersey Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 71.15%.

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.