Bridgefront Capital LLC Makes New Investment in New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR)

Bridgefront Capital LLC purchased a new stake in New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 9,970 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $465,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NJR. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of New Jersey Resources in the 4th quarter valued at about $73,124,000. Prudential Financial Inc. raised its stake in New Jersey Resources by 3,076.5% during the fourth quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 321,332 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $14,990,000 after buying an additional 311,216 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in New Jersey Resources by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,309,166 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $154,372,000 after buying an additional 216,000 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of New Jersey Resources by 18.5% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,350,358 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $62,994,000 after acquiring an additional 210,538 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its position 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 worth $8,959,000 after acquiring an additional 110,723 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

New Jersey Resources Stock Performance

NJR traded down $1.02 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $46.26. The company's stock had a trading volume of 168,593 shares, compared to its average volume of 535,318. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $48.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $47.82. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.64 billion, a PE ratio of 13.94 and a beta of 0.66. New Jersey Resources Co. has a fifty-two week low of $41.58 and a fifty-two week high of $51.95.

New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $913.03 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $732.00 million. New Jersey Resources had a net margin of 18.25% and a return on equity of 15.72%. The company's revenue was up 38.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.41 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that New Jersey Resources Co. will post 3.15 EPS for the current year.

New Jersey Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be paid a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 10th. New Jersey Resources's dividend payout ratio is presently 43.69%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on NJR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on New Jersey Resources from $54.00 to $52.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com cut shares of New Jersey Resources from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of New Jersey Resources from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of New Jersey Resources from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, New Street Research set a $51.00 target price on New Jersey Resources in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, New Jersey Resources presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $51.33.

Insider Transactions at New Jersey Resources

In related news, CFO Roberto Bel sold 2,346 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.58, for a total transaction of $113,968.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 23,822 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,157,272.76. This trade represents a 8.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.72% of the company's stock.

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.