Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC Acquires New Position in New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR)

Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 19,885 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $886,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in NJR. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position 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. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd grew its holdings in shares of New Jersey Resources by 876.0% during the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 114,858 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,667,000 after buying an additional 103,090 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of New Jersey Resources by 4,358.0% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 94,108 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,195,000 after acquiring an additional 91,997 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC acquired a new stake in New Jersey Resources in the 3rd quarter valued at $3,212,000. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

New Jersey Resources Stock Performance

NYSE:NJR traded down $0.13 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $44.72. 7,965 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 503,233. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $42.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.39 and a beta of 0.62. New Jersey Resources Co. has a fifty-two week low of $38.92 and a fifty-two week high of $50.72. 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 (NYSE:NJR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.89 by ($0.15). The business had revenue of $467.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $812.66 million. New Jersey Resources had a return on equity of 11.13% and a net margin of 13.96%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 35.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.14 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that New Jersey Resources Co. will post 2.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

New Jersey Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 12th will be given a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 12th. New Jersey Resources’s payout ratio is currently 68.85%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on NJR shares. Mizuho dropped their price objective on New Jersey Resources from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 5th. StockNews.com raised New Jersey Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th.

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.