New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR) COO Patrick J. Migliaccio Sells 4,983 Shares

New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR) COO Patrick J. Migliaccio sold 4,983 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,707,704. This represents a 11.83 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

New Jersey Resources Stock Performance

NJR stock traded down $0.14 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $46.69. The stock had a trading volume of 102,649 shares, compared to its average volume of 492,376. New Jersey Resources Co. has a 52 week low of $39.44 and a 52 week high of $51.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $47.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $46.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.99 and a beta of 0.63.

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, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89. The company had revenue of $395.78 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.30 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that New Jersey Resources Co. will post 3.1 earnings per share for the current year.

New Jersey Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis 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%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On New Jersey Resources

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NJR. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in New Jersey Resources by 3.2% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,284,245 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $54,889,000 after acquiring an additional 40,094 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in New Jersey Resources by 117.3% during the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 26,035 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,113,000 after purchasing an additional 14,052 shares during the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors boosted its position in New Jersey Resources by 7.6% in the second quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 13,123 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $561,000 after buying an additional 930 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in New Jersey Resources by 5.3% during the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 23,555 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,007,000 after buying an additional 1,194 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of New Jersey Resources during the second quarter worth approximately $76,000. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on NJR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded New Jersey Resources from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $52.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com raised New Jersey Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. 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 report on Wednesday, November 27th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of New Jersey Resources from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price objective 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $51.00.

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.