New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR) Shares Bought by Versant Capital Management Inc

Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR) by 9,400.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 665 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 658 shares during the quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc’s holdings in New Jersey Resources were worth $31,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in New Jersey Resources by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,227,815 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $57,953,000 after purchasing an additional 33,772 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake 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 in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in New Jersey Resources by 192.9% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 387,950 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $16,581,000 after acquiring an additional 255,503 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in New Jersey Resources by 4,620.0% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 83,638 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,948,000 after acquiring an additional 81,866 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. raised its holdings in New Jersey Resources by 10.1% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 155,658 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,653,000 after acquiring an additional 14,338 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised New Jersey Resources from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $52.00 to $54.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim lifted their price target 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 upped 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 report on Wednesday, November 27th. StockNews.com raised shares of New Jersey Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Mizuho increased 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. Four 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 data from MarketBeat, New Jersey Resources presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $51.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other New Jersey Resources news, COO Patrick J. Migliaccio sold 4,983 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 37,124 shares in the company, valued at $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 available at the SEC website. 0.72% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

New Jersey Resources Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of NJR opened at $45.69 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $47.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $46.39. New Jersey Resources Co. has a 12-month low of $39.44 and a 12-month high of $51.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31. The firm has a market cap of $4.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.65 and a beta of 0.64.

New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) last released its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $395.78 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $406.97 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.30 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that New Jersey Resources Co. will post 3.1 earnings per share for the current year.

New Jersey Resources Dividend Announcement

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

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.