New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR) Stock Position Lifted by Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC

Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC boosted its stake in New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR - Free Report) by 75.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,300 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 6,569 shares during the quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC's holdings in New Jersey Resources were worth $714,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC boosted its position in New Jersey Resources by 140.0% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 189,827 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $8,959,000 after purchasing an additional 110,723 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of New Jersey Resources by 23.6% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,288 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $107,000 after buying an additional 437 shares in the last quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC increased its holdings in New Jersey Resources by 2,500.0% in the fourth quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 10,400 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $485,000 after buying an additional 10,000 shares during the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. raised its position in New Jersey Resources by 59.0% during the fourth quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 33,276 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,552,000 after acquiring an additional 12,353 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in New Jersey Resources by 18.8% in the fourth quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 39,514 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,843,000 after acquiring an additional 6,250 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on NJR shares. New Street Research set a $51.00 price target on shares of New Jersey Resources in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on New Jersey Resources in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They set a "hold" rating and a $51.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on New Jersey Resources from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. StockNews.com downgraded New Jersey Resources from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, 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 report on Wednesday, February 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $51.33.

New Jersey Resources Stock Performance

NJR opened at $47.29 on Friday. New Jersey Resources Co. has a 1 year low of $41.58 and a 1 year high of $51.95. 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's 50 day simple moving average is $48.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $47.80. The stock has a market cap of $4.74 billion, a PE ratio of 14.24 and a beta of 0.66.

New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.11. New Jersey Resources had a net margin of 18.25% and a return on equity of 15.72%. The firm had revenue of $913.03 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $732.00 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.41 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 38.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that New Jersey Resources Co. will post 3.15 EPS for the current year.

New Jersey Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.81%. New Jersey Resources's dividend payout ratio is 54.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling at New Jersey Resources

In other news, CFO Roberto Bel sold 1,173 shares of the company'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 transaction of $58,650.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 22,649 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,132,450. This represents a 4.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.72% of the company's stock.

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.

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