NewJersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) Stock Breaks Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

Shares of NewJersey Resources Corporation (NYSE:NJR) passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Wednesday. The stock has a 200-day moving average of $54.48 and traded as high as $55.09. NewJersey Resources shares last traded at $55.0610, with a volume of 892,492 shares.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NJR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of NewJersey Resources from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $63.00 to $61.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of NewJersey Resources from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of NewJersey Resources from $64.00 to $63.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 11th. Huntington started coverage on shares of NewJersey Resources in a research note on Monday, September 14th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $68.00 target price on the stock. Finally, New Street Research set a $68.00 price target on NewJersey Resources in a research note on Monday, September 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $62.50.

NewJersey Resources Stock Up 2.6%

The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $52.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $54.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The company has a market capitalization of $5.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.21, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.45.

NewJersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The utilities provider reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.06 by $0.05. NewJersey Resources had a net margin of 16.42% and a return on equity of 14.46%. The business had revenue of $349.18 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $342.13 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.15) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that NewJersey Resources Corporation will post 3.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NewJersey Resources Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, September 24th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a boost from NewJersey Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.4750. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 24th. NewJersey Resources’s payout ratio is 55.25%.

Insider Transactions at NewJersey Resources

In other NewJersey Resources news, COO Patrick Migliaccio sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.63, for a total transaction of $166,890.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 32,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,791,397.26. This represents a 8.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of NewJersey Resources

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of NJR. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in NewJersey Resources in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,008,340,000. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of NewJersey Resources by 6.8% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,418,885 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $306,134,000 after purchasing an additional 343,537 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of NewJersey Resources by 5.3% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,141,330 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $227,447,000 after purchasing an additional 207,165 shares during the period. Energy Income Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of NewJersey Resources in the 2nd quarter worth $78,592,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of NewJersey Resources in the 2nd quarter worth $57,722,000. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About NewJersey Resources

New Jersey Resources Corporation (NYSE: NJR) is an energy services holding company headquartered in New Jersey. Through its subsidiaries, the company provides natural gas distribution, energy management, storage and transportation, and clean energy services to residential, commercial, industrial and institutional customers.

New Jersey Natural Gas, the company’s principal regulated utility, distributes natural gas to customers in central and northern New Jersey. Its energy services operations manage natural gas supplies and provide related products and services, while its storage and transportation activities support the movement and availability of natural gas through regional infrastructure.

The company also invests in renewable energy and other lower-carbon initiatives, including solar generation and clean energy solutions.