Raymond James & Associates Buys 4,010 Shares of New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR)

Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR) by 8.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 49,232 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,010 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates owned approximately 0.05% of New Jersey Resources worth $2,195,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in New Jersey Resources by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,564,868 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $469,881,000 after acquiring an additional 373,802 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in New Jersey Resources during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,738,000. Inspire Investing LLC grew its position in New Jersey Resources by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 7,555 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $307,000 after acquiring an additional 906 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in New Jersey Resources by 56.3% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 24,112 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $980,000 after acquiring an additional 8,681 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mattern Capital Management LLC grew its position in New Jersey Resources by 22.0% during the 3rd quarter. Mattern Capital Management LLC now owns 163,683 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,650,000 after acquiring an additional 29,492 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

New Jersey Resources Stock Down 0.7 %

NYSE:NJR opened at $41.28 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $42.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.44. New Jersey Resources Co. has a 52-week low of $38.92 and a 52-week high of $54.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.70. The company has a market cap of $4.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.92 and a beta of 0.64.

New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by ($0.15). The company had revenue of $467.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $812.66 million. New Jersey Resources had a net margin of 13.96% and a return on equity of 11.13%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 35.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.14 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that New Jersey Resources Co. will post 2.94 EPS for the current year.

New Jersey Resources Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were paid a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 12th. New Jersey Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com upgraded New Jersey Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on New Jersey Resources from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 5th.

New Jersey 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.