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

New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) was downgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued on Friday.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of New Jersey Resources from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Guggenheim boosted their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of New Jersey Resources from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $52.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of New Jersey Resources from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.00.

New Jersey Resources Price Performance

NJR stock traded down $1.11 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $45.31. The company had a trading volume of 499,938 shares, compared to its average volume of 453,290. The company has a market capitalization of $4.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.52 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 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 $47.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $46.41.

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

Insider Transactions at New Jersey Resources

In other New Jersey Resources news, COO Patrick J. Migliaccio sold 4,983 shares of New Jersey Resources stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,707,704. The trade was a 11.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On New Jersey Resources

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of 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. Arizona State Retirement System raised its position in shares of New Jersey Resources by 2.4% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 27,520 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,176,000 after purchasing an additional 646 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in New Jersey Resources in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $94,000. Wedbush Securities Inc. raised its position in New Jersey Resources by 17.9% in the 2nd quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 12,611 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $539,000 after buying an additional 1,911 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Choreo LLC bought a new position in New Jersey Resources in the second quarter valued at approximately $381,000. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.