Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC Sells 1,688 Shares of New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR)

Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC cut its holdings in New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR) by 15.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,322 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,688 shares during the period. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC’s holdings in New Jersey Resources were worth $440,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in NJR. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of New Jersey Resources by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,897,288 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $530,381,000 after buying an additional 332,420 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of New Jersey Resources by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,956,772 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $126,372,000 after buying an additional 154,441 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of New Jersey Resources by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,284,245 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $54,889,000 after buying an additional 40,094 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of New Jersey Resources by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 917,203 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,357,000 after buying an additional 8,843 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of New Jersey Resources by 12.7% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 819,693 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,542,000 after buying an additional 92,152 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on NJR shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on New Jersey Resources from $47.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on New Jersey Resources from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Mizuho lifted their price target on New Jersey Resources from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded New Jersey Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, September 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, New Jersey Resources has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $49.00.

New Jersey Resources Price Performance

NJR stock opened at $47.01 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.58 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.60. New Jersey Resources Co. has a 52-week low of $39.44 and a 52-week high of $48.68. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $46.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $44.53.

New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported ($0.09) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.02) by ($0.07). New Jersey Resources had a return on equity of 11.06% and a net margin of 13.61%. The business had revenue of $275.64 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $283.56 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.10 EPS. New Jersey Resources’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that New Jersey Resources Co. will post 2.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

New Jersey Resources Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 23rd were paid a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.83%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 23rd. This is an increase from New Jersey Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. New Jersey Resources’s payout ratio is presently 71.15%.

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.