New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR) was the target of a large drop in short interest in May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,960,000 shares, a drop of 15.5% from the May 15th total of 2,320,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 469,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.2 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at New Jersey Resources

In other news, CEO Stephen D. Westhoven sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.82, for a total transaction of $856,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 198,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,508,548.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.75% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On New Jersey Resources

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Boston Partners grew its holdings in New Jersey Resources by 65.5% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 480,001 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $20,623,000 after acquiring an additional 190,028 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of New Jersey Resources in the 1st quarter worth approximately $312,000. Energy Income Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of New Jersey Resources by 54.9% during the first quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC now owns 537,636 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $23,070,000 after purchasing an additional 190,500 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of New Jersey Resources by 11.1% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 60,608 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,601,000 after purchasing an additional 6,039 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new position in New Jersey Resources during the first quarter valued at approximately $125,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Argus upgraded New Jersey Resources to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 10th. StockNews.com raised New Jersey Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, New Jersey Resources presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.00.

New Jersey Resources Price Performance

Shares of NJR stock opened at $42.08 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $43.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.63 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.70. New Jersey Resources has a 52-week low of $38.92 and a 52-week high of $48.28.

New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by $0.08. New Jersey Resources had a net margin of 14.46% and a return on equity of 12.16%. The firm had revenue of $657.91 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $669.64 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that New Jersey Resources will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current year.

New Jersey Resources Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 12th. New Jersey Resources’s payout ratio is 66.40%.

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.