Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Has $3.33 Million Position in New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR - Free Report) by 10.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 71,402 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 6,481 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned about 0.07% of New Jersey Resources worth $3,331,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of New Jersey Resources during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of New Jersey Resources by 9,400.0% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 665 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 658 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in shares of New Jersey Resources by 69.8% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 839 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 345 shares during the last quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of New Jersey Resources during the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of New Jersey Resources during the 4th quarter valued at about $51,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NJR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. New Street Research set a $51.00 price target on New Jersey Resources in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on New Jersey Resources from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Guggenheim lifted their price target on New Jersey Resources from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on New Jersey Resources in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued a "hold" rating and a $51.00 price target on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded New Jersey Resources from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $51.33.

New Jersey Resources Price Performance

NJR stock traded down $0.69 during trading on Friday, hitting $47.29. The company had a trading volume of 648,323 shares, compared to its average volume of 536,711. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $48.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $47.82. 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 company has a market cap of $4.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.24 and a beta of 0.66. New Jersey Resources Co. has a fifty-two week low of $41.58 and a fifty-two week high of $51.95.

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

New Jersey Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be given 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 dividend yield of 3.81%. New Jersey Resources's payout ratio is currently 43.69%.

Insider Transactions at New Jersey Resources

In related news, CFO Roberto Bel sold 1,173 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $58,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

New Jersey Resources 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.