Confluence Investment Management LLC Sells 13,449 Shares of New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR)

Confluence Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR - Free Report) by 3.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 440,703 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 13,449 shares during the quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.44% of New Jersey Resources worth $21,621,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of New Jersey Resources by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,211,702 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $56,526,000 after purchasing an additional 96,393 shares during the period. Cibc World Markets Corp acquired a new stake in New Jersey Resources in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $429,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in New Jersey Resources in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,665,000. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in New Jersey Resources by 140.0% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 189,827 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $8,959,000 after acquiring an additional 110,723 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of New Jersey Resources by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,267,456 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $59,127,000 after purchasing an additional 39,641 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of New Jersey Resources from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of New Jersey Resources from $56.00 to $51.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of New Jersey Resources from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of New Jersey Resources from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of New Jersey Resources in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. They set a "hold" rating and a $51.00 target price on the stock. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $51.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other New Jersey Resources news, CFO Roberto Bel sold 2,346 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,157,272.76. The trade was a 8.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.72% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

New Jersey Resources Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NJR traded down $0.20 on Monday, hitting $45.69. The stock had a trading volume of 106,109 shares, compared to its average volume of 544,104. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $47.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $47.78. The company has a market capitalization of $4.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.77 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.89. New Jersey Resources Co. has a twelve month low of $41.68 and a twelve month high of $51.95.

New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $913.03 million for 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%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 38.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.41 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that New Jersey Resources Co. will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current year.

New Jersey Resources Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.94%. 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.