Bayesian Capital Management LP Takes $588,000 Position in New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR)

Bayesian Capital Management LP purchased a new position in New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 12,600 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $588,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of New Jersey Resources by 25.9% during the 4th quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 116,229 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $5,423,000 after acquiring an additional 23,907 shares in the last quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of New Jersey Resources by 75.2% during the 4th quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 15,300 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $714,000 after acquiring an additional 6,569 shares in the last quarter. Lido Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of New Jersey Resources by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 27,807 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,310,000 after acquiring an additional 1,423 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in New Jersey Resources by 18.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,350,358 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $62,994,000 after buying an additional 210,538 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tudor Investment Corp ET AL grew its stake in New Jersey Resources by 129.7% during the fourth quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 13,305 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $621,000 after buying an additional 7,512 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on NJR shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of New Jersey Resources from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on New Jersey Resources from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. New Street Research set a $51.00 price objective on New Jersey Resources in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on New Jersey Resources in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued a "hold" rating and a $51.00 price objective for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of New Jersey Resources from $54.00 to $52.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $51.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Roberto Bel sold 1,173 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $58,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 22,649 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,132,450. The trade was a 4.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

New Jersey Resources Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NJR traded down $0.73 during trading on Monday, reaching $46.56. The company had a trading volume of 143,619 shares, compared to its average volume of 535,198. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.89. The stock has a market cap of $4.67 billion, a PE ratio of 14.01 and a beta of 0.66. The business's 50 day moving average price is $48.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $47.82. New Jersey Resources Co. has a 52 week low of $41.58 and a 52 week high of $51.95.

New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $913.03 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $732.00 million. New Jersey Resources had a net margin of 18.25% and a return on equity of 15.72%. New Jersey Resources's revenue for the quarter was up 38.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.41 earnings per share. Analysts expect that New Jersey Resources Co. will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current year.

New Jersey Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.87%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 10th. New Jersey Resources's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.69%.

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.