Cox Capital Mgt LLC Has $1.70 Million Stock Holdings in New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR)

Cox Capital Mgt LLC reduced its stake in New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR) by 48.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 36,479 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 34,349 shares during the period. Cox Capital Mgt LLC’s holdings in New Jersey Resources were worth $1,702,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in 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 last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of New Jersey Resources by 39.9% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 618,379 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,430,000 after purchasing an additional 176,396 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake 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. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its stake in shares of New Jersey Resources by 10.1% during the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 155,658 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,653,000 after purchasing an additional 14,338 shares during the period. Finally, Quest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in New Jersey Resources by 302.0% during the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 39,369 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,858,000 after purchasing an additional 29,575 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Patrick J. Migliaccio sold 4,983 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 37,124 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,707,704. This represents a 11.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.72% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NJR has been the topic of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised New Jersey Resources from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $52.00 to $54.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of New Jersey Resources from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of New Jersey Resources from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Guggenheim increased 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 report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of 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 assigned a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, New Jersey Resources currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.00.

New Jersey Resources Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of New Jersey Resources stock opened at $46.03 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31. New Jersey Resources Co. has a 12-month low of $39.44 and a 12-month high of $51.94. The company has a market capitalization of $4.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.76 and a beta of 0.64. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $47.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $46.51.

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

New Jersey Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.91%. New Jersey Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.64%.

New Jersey Resources 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.