Amundi Increases Stock Position in NewJersey Resources Corporation $NJR

Key Points

• Amundi increased its stake in NewJersey Resources Corporation by 605.0%, acquiring a total of 46,868 shares valued at approximately $2.33 million.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.475 per share, resulting in an annual yield of 4.0%.
• NewJersey Resources reported positive earnings of $0.06 per share, exceeding analyst estimates and showing an 8.5% year-over-year revenue growth.

Amundi lifted its holdings in NewJersey Resources Corporation (NYSE:NJR - Free Report) by 605.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 46,868 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 40,220 shares during the quarter. Amundi's holdings in NewJersey Resources were worth $2,330,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in NJR. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of NewJersey Resources in the 1st quarter worth $29,509,000. Millennium Management LLC grew its position 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 worth $63,607,000 after acquiring an additional 542,089 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC purchased a new position in NewJersey Resources in the first quarter worth about $8,907,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in NewJersey Resources by 6,150.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 143,010 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $7,016,000 after acquiring an additional 140,722 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of NewJersey Resources by 67.6% in the 4th quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 305,102 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $14,233,000 after purchasing an additional 123,100 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

NewJersey Resources Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of NJR traded up $0.32 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $46.37. 540,930 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 535,738. The firm has a market cap of $4.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.34 and a beta of 0.67. NewJersey Resources Corporation has a 12-month low of $43.80 and a 12-month high of $51.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $46.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $46.95.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.06) by $0.12. The company had revenue of $298.95 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $305.05 million. NewJersey Resources had a net margin of 19.64% and a return on equity of 17.08%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.09) EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that NewJersey Resources Corporation will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current year.

NewJersey Resources Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 is Monday, September 22nd. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.1%. This is a positive change from NewJersey Resources's previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. NewJersey Resources's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.01%.

About NewJersey 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.