NewJersey Resources Corporation (NYSE:NJR) Receives Consensus Rating of "Hold" from Brokerages

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.

Shares of NewJersey Resources Corporation (NYSE:NJR - Get Free Report) have earned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the six ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $51.4286.

NJR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of NewJersey Resources from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price 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. Mizuho decreased their target price 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. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $50.00 target price (up from $49.00) on shares of NewJersey Resources in a research note on Friday, August 8th.

NewJersey Resources Stock Down 0.9%

NYSE NJR traded down $0.45 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $46.80. The stock had a trading volume of 426,173 shares, compared to its average volume of 575,530. NewJersey Resources has a 1 year low of $43.80 and a 1 year high of $51.94. The stock has a market cap of $4.70 billion, a PE ratio of 11.44 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $46.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $46.97. 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 (NYSE:NJR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.06) by $0.12. NewJersey Resources had a net margin of 19.64% and a return on equity of 17.08%. The company had revenue of $298.95 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $305.05 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.09) EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that NewJersey Resources will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Patrick J. Migliaccio sold 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.22, for a total value of $66,330.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 35,690 shares in the company, valued at $1,578,211.80. This represents a 4.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.72% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NewJersey Resources

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of NJR. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of NewJersey Resources in the 2nd quarter worth $52,671,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NewJersey Resources in the 1st quarter worth $29,509,000. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in shares of NewJersey Resources by 66.0% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,363,495 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $63,607,000 after purchasing an additional 542,089 shares in the last quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of NewJersey Resources by 145.7% in the 2nd quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC now owns 798,661 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $35,796,000 after purchasing an additional 473,664 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its holdings in NewJersey Resources by 77.1% in the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 730,300 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $32,732,000 after buying an additional 317,932 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About NewJersey 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.