New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) Downgraded to “Sell” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report report published on Wednesday.

Separately, Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of New Jersey Resources from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 5th.

New Jersey Resources Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NJR stock traded up $0.14 on Wednesday, hitting $44.33. The stock had a trading volume of 455,838 shares, compared to its average volume of 508,144. New Jersey Resources has a 12-month low of $38.92 and a 12-month high of $50.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.47. The business has a 50 day moving average of $42.72 and a 200 day moving average of $42.65. The stock has a market cap of $4.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.11 and a beta of 0.62.

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

New Jersey Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 12th will be given a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 12th. New Jersey Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.85%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On New Jersey Resources

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in New Jersey Resources in the 4th quarter worth about $33,403,000. Confluence Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of New Jersey Resources during the 1st quarter valued at about $19,337,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of New Jersey Resources by 3.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,564,868 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $469,881,000 after purchasing an additional 373,802 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners bought a new position in shares of New Jersey Resources in the fourth quarter worth approximately $12,779,000. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. raised its stake in New Jersey Resources by 83,963.0% in the fourth quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 136,182 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,071,000 after purchasing an additional 136,020 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

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.