New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR) Holdings Cut by Kesler Norman & Wride LLC

Kesler Norman & Wride LLC lessened its holdings in shares of New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR) by 1.7% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 33,543 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 584 shares during the quarter. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC’s holdings in New Jersey Resources were worth $1,440,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in NJR. LPL Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of New Jersey Resources by 4.5% during the third quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 113,911 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,628,000 after buying an additional 4,912 shares during the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP bought a new stake in shares of New Jersey Resources during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,326,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its holdings in shares of New Jersey Resources by 876.0% during the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 114,858 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,667,000 after buying an additional 103,090 shares during the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new stake in shares of New Jersey Resources during the third quarter valued at approximately $427,000. Finally, Alps Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of New Jersey Resources by 116.8% during the third quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 15,346 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $624,000 after buying an additional 8,266 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

New Jersey Resources Price Performance

New Jersey Resources stock traded down $0.32 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $42.36. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 177,114 shares, compared to its average volume of 601,797. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.74 and a beta of 0.60. New Jersey Resources Co. has a twelve month low of $38.92 and a twelve month high of $47.60. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $43.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.80.

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

New Jersey Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 12th were given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.97%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 12th. New Jersey Resources’s payout ratio is 66.40%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Stephen D. Westhoven sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.82, for a total transaction of $856,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 198,705 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,508,548.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Argus raised New Jersey Resources to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 10th. StockNews.com raised New Jersey Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $45.00.

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.