Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Acquires Shares of 139,309 NewJersey Resources Corporation $NJR

Key Points

• Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. has purchased 139,309 shares of NewJersey Resources Corporation, valued at approximately $6.83 million, increasing its ownership to 0.14% as of the end of the most recent quarter.
• NewJersey Resources reported earnings of $0.06 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding analyst expectations, while revenue grew by 8.5% compared to the same period last year.
• The stock is currently rated as a "Hold" by analysts, with a target price ranging around $51.43, following several recent updates to price recommendations from various financial institutions.

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of NewJersey Resources Corporation (NYSE:NJR - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 139,309 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $6,834,000. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. owned 0.14% of NewJersey Resources at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of NewJersey Resources by 3.5% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,424,736 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $168,019,000 after buying an additional 115,570 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in NewJersey Resources by 66.0% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,363,495 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $63,607,000 after acquiring an additional 542,089 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of NewJersey Resources by 0.6% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,274,588 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $62,531,000 after purchasing an additional 7,132 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NewJersey Resources during the first quarter worth $29,509,000. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of NewJersey Resources by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 475,830 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $22,197,000 after acquiring an additional 13,580 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on NJR shares. Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and set a $50.00 price objective (up previously from $49.00) on shares of NewJersey Resources in a research report on Friday, August 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on NewJersey Resources from $56.00 to $51.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of NewJersey Resources from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, NewJersey Resources has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $51.43.

NewJersey Resources Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of NewJersey Resources stock traded down $0.24 during trading on Friday, hitting $47.16. 409,548 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 525,561. NewJersey Resources Corporation has a 1-year low of $43.80 and a 1-year high of $51.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.53 and a beta of 0.67. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $46.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $46.98.

NewJersey Resources (NYSE:NJR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.06) by $0.12. NewJersey Resources had a return on equity of 17.08% and a net margin of 19.64%.The business had revenue of $298.95 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $305.05 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.09) EPS. NewJersey Resources's revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that NewJersey Resources Corporation will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NewJersey Resources Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 22nd will be issued a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 22nd. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. This is a positive change from NewJersey Resources's previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. NewJersey Resources's payout ratio is currently 44.01%.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Patrick J. Migliaccio sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.22, for a total transaction of $66,330.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 35,690 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,578,211.80. This represents a 4.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.72% of the company's stock.

NewJersey Resources Company 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.