Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. Acquires 6,662 Shares of NewJersey Resources Corporation $NJR

Key Points

• Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. has increased its stake in NewJersey Resources Corporation by 15.7% to approximately $2.20 million, owning a total of 49,127 shares.
• NewJersey Resources recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.475 per share, representing a 4.0% dividend yield, up from their previous quarterly dividend of $0.45.
• Analysts have varying outlooks for NewJersey Resources, with JPMorgan reducing their price target from $56.00 to $51.00, while Raymond James updated theirs from $49.00 to $50.00, maintaining an "outperform" rating.

Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. grew its stake in NewJersey Resources Corporation (NYSE:NJR - Free Report) by 15.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 49,127 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 6,662 shares during the quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc.'s holdings in NewJersey Resources were worth $2,202,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in NJR. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its stake in shares of NewJersey Resources by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 16,345 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $763,000 after purchasing an additional 706 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in NewJersey Resources by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 11,569 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $540,000 after buying an additional 555 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG raised its stake in NewJersey Resources by 48.5% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 190,062 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $8,866,000 after buying an additional 62,050 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of NewJersey Resources by 6,245.8% in the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,523 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 1,499 shares during the period. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in shares of NewJersey Resources by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 55,941 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,610,000 after purchasing an additional 2,159 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on NJR. Raymond James Financial restated 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. Wall Street Zen upgraded NewJersey Resources from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, September 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $51.43.

NewJersey Resources Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NJR stock traded down $0.08 on Friday, reaching $46.78. 322,811 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 619,890. The company has a market cap of $4.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.43 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a 50-day moving average of $46.65 and a 200-day moving average of $46.93. 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 one year low of $43.80 and a one year high of $51.94.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.06) by $0.12. The company had revenue of $298.95 million for 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 business's revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.09) EPS. Analysts anticipate that NewJersey Resources Corporation will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current year.

NewJersey Resources Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Monday, September 22nd will be given a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 22nd. This is a positive change from NewJersey Resources's previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. NewJersey Resources's payout ratio is 44.01%.

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.