Cable Hill Partners LLC Invests $222,000 in New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR)

Cable Hill Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 4,721 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $222,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in New Jersey Resources in the 3rd quarter valued at $8,590,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its stake in New Jersey Resources by 8,995.5% in the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 157,079 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,414,000 after buying an additional 155,352 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its stake in New Jersey Resources by 140.0% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 189,827 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,959,000 after buying an additional 110,723 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in New Jersey Resources by 8.6% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,211,702 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $56,526,000 after buying an additional 96,393 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in New Jersey Resources by 16.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 609,199 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,754,000 after buying an additional 86,742 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at New Jersey Resources

In related news, COO Patrick J. Migliaccio sold 4,983 shares of New Jersey Resources stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.00, for a total transaction of $229,218.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 37,124 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,707,704. This trade represents a 11.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.72% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on NJR shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of New Jersey Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target 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. Guggenheim increased their price target on shares of New Jersey Resources from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of New Jersey Resources from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $51.75.

New Jersey Resources Price Performance

Shares of New Jersey Resources stock opened at $47.86 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $46.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $46.97. The company has a market cap of $4.80 billion, a PE ratio of 14.42 and a beta of 0.63. New Jersey Resources Co. has a fifty-two week low of $40.62 and a fifty-two week high of $51.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.61.

New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 3rd. The utilities provider reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.15. New Jersey Resources had a net margin of 18.25% and a return on equity of 15.72%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.74 earnings per share. Analysts expect that New Jersey Resources Co. will post 3.15 EPS for the current year.

New Jersey Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. New Jersey Resources’s payout ratio is 54.22%.

New Jersey Resources 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.