Insider Selling: New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR) COO Sells 4,983 Shares of Stock

New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR) COO Patrick J. Migliaccio sold 4,983 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.00, for a total value of $229,218.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 37,124 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,707,704. This trade represents a 11.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

New Jersey Resources Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of New Jersey Resources stock traded down $0.14 on Thursday, hitting $46.69. 102,649 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 492,376. New Jersey Resources Co. has a one year low of $39.44 and a one year high of $51.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.66 billion, a PE ratio of 15.99 and a beta of 0.63. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $47.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $46.10.

New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89. New Jersey Resources had a return on equity of 13.54% and a net margin of 16.13%. The business 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 company posted $0.30 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that New Jersey Resources Co. will post 3.1 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. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 11th. New Jersey Resources’s payout ratio is 61.64%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On New Jersey Resources

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of New Jersey Resources by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,227,815 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $57,953,000 after buying an additional 33,772 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in New Jersey Resources by 39.9% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 618,379 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,430,000 after acquiring an additional 176,396 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in New Jersey Resources by 192.9% in the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 387,950 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $16,581,000 after acquiring an additional 255,503 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of New Jersey Resources by 4,620.0% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 83,638 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,948,000 after purchasing an additional 81,866 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of New Jersey Resources by 3.2% during 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 purchasing an additional 40,094 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on NJR. Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of New Jersey Resources from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of New Jersey Resources from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $52.00 to $54.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective 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. Mizuho boosted their target price on New Jersey Resources from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded New Jersey Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, New Jersey Resources has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $51.00.

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.