ProShare Advisors LLC Purchases 8,843 Shares of New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR)

ProShare Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR) by 1.0% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 917,203 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,843 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in New Jersey Resources were worth $39,357,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of New Jersey Resources by 2.8% during the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 9,357 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $402,000 after buying an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of New Jersey Resources by 5.5% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 24,292 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,042,000 after purchasing an additional 1,257 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of New Jersey Resources by 0.4% during the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 193,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,282,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of New Jersey Resources by 2,652.8% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 89,631 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,846,000 after buying an additional 86,375 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in New Jersey Resources in the 1st quarter worth about $1,635,000. 70.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

New Jersey Resources Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:NJR traded up $0.47 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $46.09. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 514,757 shares, compared to its average volume of 511,688. The company has a 50-day moving average of $43.14 and a 200-day moving average of $42.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.56. The firm has a market cap of $4.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.03 and a beta of 0.60. New Jersey Resources Co. has a 12 month low of $38.92 and a 12 month high of $47.04.

New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $657.91 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $669.64 million. New Jersey Resources had a net margin of 14.46% and a return on equity of 12.16%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that New Jersey Resources Co. will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current year.

New Jersey Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 12th were given a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.65%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 12th. New Jersey Resources’s payout ratio is 66.40%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NJR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Argus raised shares of New Jersey Resources to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 10th. StockNews.com raised shares of New Jersey Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $45.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Stephen D. Westhoven sold 3,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total transaction of $153,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 195,305 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,788,725. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Stephen D. Westhoven sold 26,600 shares of New Jersey Resources stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.06, for a total transaction of $1,198,596.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 168,705 shares in the company, valued at $7,601,847.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Stephen D. Westhoven sold 3,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total transaction of $153,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 195,305 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,788,725. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 50,000 shares of company stock worth $2,207,996 over the last quarter. 0.75% 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.