Essential Planning LLC. Takes $1.54 Million Position in New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR)

Essential Planning LLC. purchased a new stake in New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 32,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,540,000.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of New Jersey Resources in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in New Jersey Resources during the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in New Jersey Resources by 9,400.0% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 665 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 658 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in New Jersey Resources by 69.8% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 839 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 345 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC purchased a new position in New Jersey Resources during the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NJR has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price 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 raised their price target on shares of New Jersey Resources from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of New Jersey Resources from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of New Jersey Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $51.75.

Insider Activity at New Jersey Resources

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

New Jersey Resources Price Performance

NJR opened at $48.08 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $47.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.89. New Jersey Resources Co. has a 1 year low of $40.62 and a 1 year high of $51.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.82 billion, a PE ratio of 14.48 and a beta of 0.57.

New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The utilities provider reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.74 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that New Jersey Resources Co. will post 3.15 EPS for the current year.

New Jersey Resources Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be given a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.74%. New Jersey Resources’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.22%.

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.