NewJersey Resources Corporation (NYSE:NJR) Receives Average Rating of "Hold" from Analysts

Key Points

• NewJersey Resources Corporation has received a consensus "Hold" rating from six brokerages, with an average price target of $51.43.
• Recent changes in analyst ratings include Mizuho decreasing their price objective to $50.00 and Raymond James Financial raising theirs to $50.00, while Wells Fargo increased their target to $53.00.
• The company reported a quarterly EPS of $0.06, exceeding expectations, with revenues rising 8.5% year-over-year, despite falling slightly short of consensus estimates.

NewJersey Resources Corporation (NYSE:NJR - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the six research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $51.4286.

NJR has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of NewJersey Resources from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of NewJersey Resources from $52.00 to $50.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and set a $50.00 price target (up previously from $49.00) on shares of NewJersey Resources in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of NewJersey Resources from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut 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.

NewJersey Resources Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NJR traded up $0.23 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $47.32. The company had a trading volume of 574,151 shares, compared to its average volume of 615,716. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $46.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $46.96. NewJersey Resources has a 12 month low of $43.80 and a 12 month high of $51.94. The firm has a market cap of $4.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.57 and a beta of 0.67.

NewJersey Resources (NYSE:NJR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.06) by $0.12. NewJersey Resources had a net margin of 19.64% and a return on equity of 17.08%. The business had revenue of $298.95 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $305.05 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.09) earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that NewJersey Resources will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other NewJersey Resources news, COO Patrick J. Migliaccio sold 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.22, for a total transaction of $66,330.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 35,690 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,578,211.80. This represents a 4.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NewJersey Resources

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of NJR. Norges Bank bought a new position in NewJersey Resources in the 2nd quarter valued at $52,671,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NewJersey Resources in the first quarter valued at $29,509,000. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of NewJersey Resources by 66.0% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,363,495 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $63,607,000 after buying an additional 542,089 shares during the last quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC lifted its position in NewJersey Resources by 145.7% during the 2nd quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC now owns 798,661 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $35,796,000 after buying an additional 473,664 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd grew its holdings in NewJersey Resources by 77.1% during the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 730,300 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $32,732,000 after acquiring an additional 317,932 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.