iSAM Funds UK Ltd Takes Position in New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR)

iSAM Funds UK Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 12,161 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $574,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of NJR. Cetera Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of New Jersey Resources during the 1st quarter valued at $312,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in New Jersey Resources by 119.5% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,214 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 661 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in New Jersey Resources by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 8,840 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $378,000 after purchasing an additional 307 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in New Jersey Resources by 29.1% in the 2nd quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 26,159 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,118,000 after purchasing an additional 5,894 shares during the period. Finally, Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new position in New Jersey Resources in the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NJR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on New Jersey Resources from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on New Jersey Resources from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. StockNews.com raised New Jersey Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Guggenheim raised their target price on New Jersey Resources from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on New Jersey Resources from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $49.75.

New Jersey Resources Price Performance

NYSE:NJR opened at $49.18 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $47.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $45.73. The stock has a market cap of $4.91 billion, a PE ratio of 16.84 and a beta of 0.63. New Jersey Resources Co. has a 52 week low of $39.44 and a 52 week high of $51.94.

New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89. The business had revenue of $395.78 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $406.97 million. New Jersey Resources had a return on equity of 13.54% and a net margin of 16.13%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.30 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that New Jersey Resources Co. will post 3.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

New Jersey Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.66%. New Jersey Resources’s payout ratio is 61.64%.

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.