NewJersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) Cut to Sell at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of NewJersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday,Wall Street Zen reports.

NJR has been the topic of a number of other reports. Weiss Ratings cut shares of NewJersey Resources from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of NewJersey Resources from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $63.00 to $61.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Argus set a $63.00 price objective on shares of NewJersey Resources in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of NewJersey Resources from $64.00 to $63.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $61.50.

NewJersey Resources Price Performance

Shares of NJR opened at $53.10 on Friday. NewJersey Resources has a 52 week low of $43.46 and a 52 week high of $60.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The firm has a market cap of $5.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.67, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.50. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $56.06 and a 200-day moving average of $55.72.

NewJersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The utilities provider reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.06 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $349.18 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $342.13 million. NewJersey Resources had a return on equity of 14.46% and a net margin of 16.42%.The business’s revenue was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.15) EPS. NewJersey Resources has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.520-3.620 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that NewJersey Resources will post 3.59 EPS for the current year.

NewJersey Resources Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. This is a positive change from NewJersey Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 24th. NewJersey Resources’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.49%.

Insider Activity at NewJersey Resources

In other news, COO Patrick Migliaccio sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.63, for a total transaction of $166,890.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 32,202 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,791,397.26. This represents a 8.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of NewJersey Resources

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of NewJersey Resources by 13.9% in the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,640 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $428,000 after purchasing an additional 932 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of NewJersey Resources by 118.4% during the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 8,085 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $453,000 after buying an additional 4,383 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in shares of NewJersey Resources by 7.9% during the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 14,805 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $830,000 after buying an additional 1,081 shares during the period. Nykredit A S acquired a new position in shares of NewJersey Resources during the second quarter worth approximately $119,000. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its position in shares of NewJersey Resources by 23.1% during the second quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 199,226 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,165,000 after buying an additional 37,408 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About NewJersey Resources

New Jersey Resources Corporation (NYSE: NJR) is an energy services holding company based in Wall, New Jersey. Through its subsidiaries, the company provides regulated natural gas distribution, energy management, wholesale energy services, renewable energy development, and natural gas storage and transportation solutions.

Its principal subsidiary, New Jersey Natural Gas, operates a regulated natural gas utility serving residential, commercial, and industrial customers in central and northern New Jersey.