Good Life Advisors LLC Grows Position in New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR)

Good Life Advisors LLC boosted its stake in New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 33,337 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 342 shares during the quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC’s holdings in New Jersey Resources were worth $1,486,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of New Jersey Resources by 11.8% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,095,820 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $540,987,000 after buying an additional 1,069,306 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of New Jersey Resources in the 4th quarter worth about $39,226,000. BlackRock Inc. raised its position in shares of New Jersey Resources by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 16,327,934 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $770,678,000 after purchasing an additional 756,914 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in New Jersey Resources by 22.6% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,203,151 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $146,897,000 after buying an additional 589,747 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in New Jersey Resources by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,564,868 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $469,881,000 after buying an additional 373,802 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NJR has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Mizuho cut their price target on New Jersey Resources from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 5th. StockNews.com upgraded New Jersey Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th.

New Jersey Resources Trading Up 1.3 %

New Jersey Resources stock traded up $0.54 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $42.91. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 407,309 shares, compared to its average volume of 538,617. The company has a 50 day moving average of $41.76 and a 200-day moving average of $42.42. The stock has a market cap of $4.22 billion, a PE ratio of 17.36 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.70. New Jersey Resources Co. has a one year low of $38.92 and a one year high of $55.84.

New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by ($0.15). New Jersey Resources had a return on equity of 11.13% and a net margin of 13.96%. The company had revenue of $467.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $812.66 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.14 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 35.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that New Jersey Resources Co. will post 2.94 EPS for the current year.

New Jersey Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 12th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.92%. New Jersey Resources’s payout ratio is 68.85%.

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.