Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Acquires 12,409 Shares of New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR)

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR) by 15.5% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 92,322 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,409 shares during the quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in New Jersey Resources were worth $4,358,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of NJR. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of New Jersey Resources by 192.9% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 387,950 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $16,581,000 after purchasing an additional 255,503 shares during the period. Energy Income Partners LLC increased its stake in New Jersey Resources by 54.9% during the 1st quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC now owns 537,636 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $23,070,000 after acquiring an additional 190,500 shares during the period. Boston Partners increased its stake 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 during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in New Jersey Resources by 39.9% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 618,379 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,430,000 after acquiring an additional 176,396 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in New Jersey Resources by 5.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,956,772 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $126,372,000 after acquiring an additional 154,441 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on NJR. Mizuho raised their price objective on New Jersey Resources from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on New Jersey Resources from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on New Jersey Resources from $47.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded New Jersey Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $49.00.

New Jersey Resources Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE NJR opened at $47.76 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30. New Jersey Resources Co. has a twelve month low of $39.44 and a twelve month high of $48.68. The company has a market cap of $4.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.98 and a beta of 0.59. The business’s fifty day moving average is $46.54 and its 200 day moving average is $45.00.

New Jersey Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.77%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 11th. New Jersey Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 75.31%.

New Jersey Resources Company 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.