New Jersey Resources Corporation, an energy services holding company, provides regulated gas distribution, and retail and wholesale energy services. 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 564,000 residential and commercial customers throughout 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. The Clean Energy Ventures segment invests in, owns, and operates commercial and residential solar projects situated in New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New York. The Energy Services segment offers unregulated wholesale energy management services to other energy companies and natural gas producers, as well as maintains and transacts a portfolio of physical assets consisting of natural gas storage and transportation contracts in the United States and Canada. The Storage and Transportation segment invests in natural gas transportation and storage facilities. It provides heating, ventilation, and cooling services; holds commercial real estate properties; and offers solar equipment installation, and plumbing repair and installation services, as well as engages in the water appliance sale, installation, and servicing activities. The company was incorporated in 1981 and is headquartered in Wall, New Jersey.
New Jersey Resources Stock Performance
Shares of NYSE:NJR traded up $0.05 on Thursday, hitting $45.51. 322,488 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 504,880. The company's 50 day moving average price is $44.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $43.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.87, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.76. New Jersey Resources has a one year low of $34.41 and a one year high of $47.50.
New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR - Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 4th. The utilities provider reported ($0.04) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.06 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $552.34 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $418.65 million. New Jersey Resources had a return on equity of 11.54% and a net margin of 8.20%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 50.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.15) earnings per share. Research analysts expect that New Jersey Resources will post 2.48 earnings per share for the current year.
New Jersey Resources Cuts Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, September 26th will be given a $0.3625 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 23rd. This represents a $1.45 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.19%. New Jersey Resources's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.32%.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
NJR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of New Jersey Resources from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday. Mizuho boosted their price objective on New Jersey Resources from $42.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Friday, April 29th. StockNews.com raised New Jersey Resources from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 18th. Finally, TheStreet lowered New Jersey Resources from a "b" rating to a "c+" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 20th.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other news, COO Patrick J. Migliaccio sold 2,690 shares of New Jersey Resources stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.25, for a total transaction of $121,722.50. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 36,016 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,629,724. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.68% of the company's stock.