Advisors Preferred LLC Takes $2.44 Million Position in NewJersey Resources Corporation $NJR

Advisors Preferred LLC bought a new stake in NewJersey Resources Corporation (NYSE:NJR) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 54,002 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,443,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its holdings in shares of NewJersey Resources by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 122,677 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,498,000 after purchasing an additional 613 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of NewJersey Resources by 1,301.7% in the 2nd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 2,411 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $108,000 after purchasing an additional 2,239 shares during the period. Arkadios Wealth Advisors raised its holdings in NewJersey Resources by 9.9% during the 2nd quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 13,527 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $606,000 after acquiring an additional 1,216 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in NewJersey Resources by 10.7% during the 2nd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 34,065 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,527,000 after acquiring an additional 3,299 shares during the period. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd raised its holdings in NewJersey Resources by 39.7% during the 2nd quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 22,134 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $992,000 after acquiring an additional 6,290 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NJR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 price target (up from $49.00) on shares of NewJersey Resources in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of NewJersey Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of NewJersey Resources in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.43.

NewJersey Resources Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NJR stock opened at $44.07 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $46.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $46.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The stock has a market cap of $4.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.78 and a beta of 0.64. NewJersey Resources Corporation has a 52 week low of $43.46 and a 52 week high of $51.94.

NewJersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) last announced its earnings results on Friday, May 19th. The utilities provider reported $1.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $912.32 million for the quarter. NewJersey Resources had a net margin of 19.64% and a return on equity of 17.08%. Analysts predict that NewJersey Resources Corporation will post 3.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NewJersey Resources Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Monday, September 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 22nd. This is a positive change from NewJersey Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. NewJersey Resources’s payout ratio is currently 46.45%.

NewJersey 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.