Wellington Management Group LLP Sells 27,038 Shares of New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR)

Wellington Management Group LLP lessened its position in shares of New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR - Free Report) by 8.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 306,219 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 27,038 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP owned approximately 0.31% of New Jersey Resources worth $14,285,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in NJR. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of New Jersey Resources during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of New Jersey Resources during the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of New Jersey Resources during the 4th quarter worth approximately $51,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of New Jersey Resources during the 4th quarter worth approximately $51,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its position in New Jersey Resources by 6,245.8% during the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,523 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 1,499 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NJR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of New Jersey Resources from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of New Jersey Resources from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of New Jersey Resources from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of New Jersey Resources from $56.00 to $51.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, New Street Research set a $51.00 price objective on shares of New Jersey Resources in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, New Jersey Resources presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $51.67.

New Jersey Resources Stock Down 2.0%

Shares of NJR traded down $0.93 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $45.12. 208,665 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 545,956. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $47.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $47.75. New Jersey Resources Co. has a 52 week low of $41.68 and a 52 week high of $51.95. The company has a market cap of $4.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.59 and a beta of 0.66.

New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $913.03 million during 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.41 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that New Jersey Resources Co. will post 3.15 EPS for the current year.

New Jersey Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be paid 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 3.99%. New Jersey Resources's dividend payout ratio is currently 43.69%.

Insider Activity at New Jersey Resources

In other New Jersey Resources news, CFO Roberto Bel sold 1,173 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $58,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 22,649 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,132,450. The trade was a 4.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.72% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

New Jersey 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.