Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. Makes New $252,000 Investment in NewJersey Resources Corporation $NJR

Key Points

• Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d'investissement inc. acquired 5,612 shares of NewJersey Resources Corporation (NYSE:NJR) valued at approximately $252,000 during the 2nd quarter.
• NewJersey Resources recently increased its quarterly dividend to $0.475, up from $0.45, reflecting a 4.1% yield.
• Analysts have issued mixed ratings on NJR, with Raymond James raising its target price to $50 and others maintaining a hold rating, indicating variable market sentiments.

Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. bought a new stake in shares of NewJersey Resources Corporation (NYSE:NJR - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 5,612 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $252,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in 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 valued at $168,019,000 after purchasing an additional 115,570 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in NewJersey Resources by 0.6% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,274,588 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $62,531,000 after buying an additional 7,132 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in NewJersey Resources in the first quarter valued at $29,509,000. Nuveen Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in NewJersey Resources by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 475,830 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $22,197,000 after buying an additional 13,580 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bragg Financial Advisors Inc increased its holdings in NewJersey Resources by 33.1% in the first quarter. Bragg Financial Advisors Inc now owns 463,948 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $22,761,000 after buying an additional 115,341 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on NJR shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of NewJersey Resources from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, September 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of NewJersey Resources from $56.00 to $51.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $50.00 price objective (up previously from $49.00) on shares of NewJersey Resources in a report on Friday, August 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $51.43.

NewJersey Resources Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of NJR stock traded down $0.03 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $46.44. The company had a trading volume of 94,460 shares, compared to its average volume of 622,172. The company's fifty day moving average is $46.68 and its 200 day moving average is $46.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.48. NewJersey Resources Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $43.80 and a fifty-two week high of $51.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.66 billion, a PE ratio of 11.35 and a beta of 0.67.

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

NewJersey Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 22nd will be issued a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 22nd. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.1%. This is an increase from NewJersey Resources's previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. NewJersey Resources's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.01%.

NewJersey 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.