FNY Investment Advisers LLC Buys 10,000 Shares of New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR)

FNY Investment Advisers LLC boosted its stake in shares of New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR) by 2,500.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 10,000 shares during the quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in New Jersey Resources were worth $485,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NJR. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of New Jersey Resources during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in New Jersey Resources during the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in New Jersey Resources by 9,400.0% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 665 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 658 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp bought a new stake in shares of New Jersey Resources in the third quarter valued at about $52,000. Finally, Spirit of America Management Corp NY lifted its position in shares of New Jersey Resources by 140.0% in the 3rd quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY now owns 1,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of New Jersey Resources from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Mizuho lifted their price target on New Jersey Resources from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. StockNews.com cut New Jersey Resources from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of New Jersey Resources from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $52.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.00.

Insider Transactions at New Jersey Resources

In other New Jersey Resources news, COO Patrick J. Migliaccio sold 4,983 shares of the company’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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 37,124 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,707,704. This represents a 11.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

New Jersey Resources Stock Performance

Shares of New Jersey Resources stock opened at $45.65 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.63 and a beta of 0.64. New Jersey Resources Co. has a 52 week low of $39.44 and a 52 week high of $51.94. 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $47.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $46.48.

New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89. New Jersey Resources had a net margin of 16.13% and a return on equity of 13.54%. The firm had revenue of $395.78 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $406.97 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.30 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that New Jersey Resources Co. will post 3.1 EPS for the current year.

New Jersey Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th were issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 11th. New Jersey Resources’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.64%.

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.