Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Has $6.07 Million Stock Position in New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its holdings in New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR) by 83,963.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 136,182 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 136,020 shares during the quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. owned about 0.14% of New Jersey Resources worth $6,071,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of NJR. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in shares of New Jersey Resources during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of New Jersey Resources during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of New Jersey Resources in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in New Jersey Resources during the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in New Jersey Resources by 68.0% in the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,018 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 412 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on NJR shares. Mizuho lowered their price target on New Jersey Resources from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 5th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of New Jersey Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th.

New Jersey Resources Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NJR stock traded up $0.15 on Friday, reaching $44.70. 367,007 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 429,487. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $42.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.39 billion, a PE ratio of 18.32 and a beta of 0.62. New Jersey Resources Co. has a 52 week low of $38.92 and a 52 week high of $52.28.

New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by ($0.15). The business had revenue of $467.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $812.66 million. New Jersey Resources had a net margin of 13.96% and a return on equity of 11.13%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 35.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.14 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that New Jersey Resources Co. will post 2.94 EPS for the current year.

New Jersey Resources Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 12th. New Jersey Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.