New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) Lowered to Sell at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report issued on Monday.

Separately, Argus upgraded shares of New Jersey Resources to a strong-buy rating in a research report on Monday, June 10th.

New Jersey Resources Price Performance

New Jersey Resources stock opened at $44.14 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $4.36 billion, a PE ratio of 17.45 and a beta of 0.60. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average price is $43.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.99. New Jersey Resources has a one year low of $38.92 and a one year high of $47.37.

New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported ($0.09) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.02) by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $275.64 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $283.56 million. New Jersey Resources had a return on equity of 12.16% and a net margin of 14.46%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.10 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that New Jersey Resources will post 2.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at New Jersey Resources

In related 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 directly owns 168,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,601,847.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Stephen D. Westhoven sold 3,400 shares of New Jersey Resources stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total transaction of $153,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 195,305 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,788,725. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen D. Westhoven sold 26,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.06, for a total value 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 50,000 shares of company stock valued at $2,207,996. 0.75% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On New Jersey Resources

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of New Jersey Resources by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,897,288 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $530,381,000 after purchasing an additional 332,420 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in New Jersey Resources by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,668,077 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $118,944,000 after buying an additional 9,746 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of New Jersey Resources by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,284,245 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $54,889,000 after buying an additional 40,094 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of New Jersey Resources by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,093,098 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $48,730,000 after buying an additional 16,289 shares during the period. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of New Jersey Resources by 1.0% during the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 917,203 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,357,000 after acquiring an additional 8,843 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.