Insider Selling: New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR) CFO Sells 2,346 Shares of Stock

New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR) CFO Roberto Bel sold 2,346 shares of New Jersey Resources stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.58, for a total transaction of $113,968.68. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 23,822 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,157,272.76. The trade was a 8.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

New Jersey Resources Stock Performance

Shares of NJR opened at $48.41 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The firm has a market cap of $4.85 billion, a PE ratio of 14.58 and a beta of 0.57. New Jersey Resources Co. has a 12 month low of $40.62 and a 12 month high of $51.95. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $47.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $47.35.

New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The utilities provider reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.15. New Jersey Resources had a return on equity of 15.72% and a net margin of 18.25%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.74 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that New Jersey Resources Co. will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

New Jersey Resources Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.72%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. New Jersey Resources’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.22%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of NJR. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of New Jersey Resources by 110.5% during the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 18,897 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $892,000 after buying an additional 9,918 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in New Jersey Resources by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,227,815 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $57,953,000 after acquiring an additional 33,772 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. grew its stake in New Jersey Resources by 153.1% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 93,876 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,431,000 after purchasing an additional 56,789 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd increased its holdings in shares of New Jersey Resources by 247.5% in the third quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 31,646 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,494,000 after purchasing an additional 22,538 shares during the period. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of New Jersey Resources in the third quarter worth about $1,001,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on NJR shares. StockNews.com raised New Jersey Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Guggenheim raised their price objective on New Jersey Resources from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of New Jersey Resources from $54.00 to $52.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Four research 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $51.75.

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.