Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 101,269 Shares of New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR)

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its stake in New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR) by 30.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 230,096 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 101,269 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.23% of New Jersey Resources worth $10,861,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of NJR. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of New Jersey Resources by 57.5% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 22,532 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,150,000 after acquiring an additional 8,230 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of New Jersey Resources in the third quarter valued at approximately $271,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of New Jersey Resources by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,366,381 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $111,714,000 after buying an additional 34,782 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of New Jersey Resources by 140.0% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 189,827 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,959,000 after acquiring an additional 110,723 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC grew its stake in New Jersey Resources by 14.5% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 8,621 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $407,000 after purchasing an additional 1,093 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NJR has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of New Jersey Resources from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $52.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com raised New Jersey Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective 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 upped their price target on shares of New Jersey Resources from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of New Jersey Resources from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $51.00.

Insider Transactions at New Jersey Resources

In other 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 value of $229,218.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 37,124 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,707,704. This trade represents a 11.83 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.72% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

New Jersey Resources Stock Performance

Shares of New Jersey Resources stock opened at $46.52 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $47.86 and a 200-day moving average of $46.17. The company has a market cap of $4.64 billion, a PE ratio of 15.93 and a beta of 0.63. 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 Co. has a 1-year low of $39.44 and a 1-year 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 return on equity of 13.54% and a net margin of 16.13%. The firm had revenue of $395.78 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $406.97 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.30 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that New Jersey Resources Co. will post 3.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

New Jersey Resources Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 3.87%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 11th. New Jersey Resources’s payout ratio is presently 61.64%.

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.