New Jersey Resources Co. (NJR) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.42 on July 1st

New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, April 18th, Zacks reports. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 12th will be paid a dividend of 0.42 per share by the utilities provider on Monday, July 1st. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 12th.

New Jersey Resources has increased its dividend by an average of 7.9% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 28 consecutive years. New Jersey Resources has a payout ratio of 58.7% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect New Jersey Resources to earn $2.88 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.68 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 58.3%.

New Jersey Resources Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NJR opened at $43.36 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $4.26 billion, a PE ratio of 17.77 and a beta of 0.64. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $42.12 and a 200 day moving average of $42.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.70. New Jersey Resources has a one year low of $38.92 and a one year high of $53.90.

New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.89 by ($0.15). The company had revenue of $467.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $812.66 million. New Jersey Resources had a return on equity of 11.13% and a net margin of 13.96%. New Jersey Resources’s revenue was down 35.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.14 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that New Jersey Resources will post 2.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On New Jersey Resources

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NJR. State Street Corp boosted its stake in New Jersey Resources by 11.8% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,095,820 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $540,987,000 after purchasing an additional 1,069,306 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of New Jersey Resources during the 4th quarter valued at about $39,226,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of New Jersey Resources by 22.6% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,203,151 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $146,897,000 after acquiring an additional 589,747 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of New Jersey Resources by 151.1% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 602,011 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,609,000 after acquiring an additional 362,282 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of New Jersey Resources by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,897,288 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $530,381,000 after acquiring an additional 332,420 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of New Jersey Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of New Jersey Resources from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 5th.

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.