JPMorgan Chase & Co. Issues Pessimistic Forecast for New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) Stock Price

New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) had its price target lowered by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $54.00 to $52.00 in a report published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on NJR. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of New Jersey Resources from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on New Jersey Resources from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded New Jersey Resources from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $50.50.

New Jersey Resources Price Performance

Shares of NJR opened at $47.44 on Tuesday. 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 stock has a market cap of $4.73 billion, a PE ratio of 16.25 and a beta of 0.64. New Jersey Resources has a 12-month low of $39.44 and a 12-month high of $51.94. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $47.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $46.80.

New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.89. New Jersey Resources had a return on equity of 13.54% and a net margin of 16.13%. The company had revenue of $395.78 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $406.97 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.30 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that New Jersey Resources will post 3.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

New Jersey Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.79%. New Jersey Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.64%.

Insider Transactions at New Jersey Resources

In other New Jersey Resources news, COO Patrick J. Migliaccio sold 4,983 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.00, for a total transaction of $229,218.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 37,124 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,707,704. This represents a 11.83 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of New Jersey Resources

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NJR. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new stake in New Jersey Resources in the fourth quarter worth $51,000. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of New Jersey Resources during the 4th quarter worth about $1,681,000. Spirit of America Management Corp NY grew its stake in shares of New Jersey Resources by 125.0% in the 4th quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY now owns 2,700 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $126,000 after buying an additional 1,500 shares during the period. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC increased its position in New Jersey Resources by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC now owns 25,522 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,191,000 after buying an additional 383 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ibex Wealth Advisors acquired a new position in New Jersey Resources during the 4th quarter worth approximately $295,000. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

About New Jersey Resources

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.