New Jersey Resources Co. (NJR) To Go Ex-Dividend on June 12th

New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, April 18th, Zacks reports. Shareholders 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 raised its dividend payment by an average of 7.9% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 28 years. New Jersey Resources has a dividend payout ratio of 58.7% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities 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 Trading Up 2.8 %

Shares of NJR opened at $43.36 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $42.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price 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 52-week low of $38.92 and a 52-week high of $53.90. The company has a market cap of $4.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.77 and a beta of 0.64.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on NJR. Mizuho lowered their target price on New Jersey Resources from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 5th. StockNews.com raised New Jersey Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On New Jersey Resources

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of New Jersey Resources by 9.4% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 54,569 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,433,000 after purchasing an additional 4,701 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of New Jersey Resources during the fourth quarter worth $653,000. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its stake in New Jersey Resources by 13.6% in the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 9,489 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $423,000 after acquiring an additional 1,135 shares during the period. Virtus ETF Advisers LLC grew its stake in New Jersey Resources by 13.4% in the fourth quarter. Virtus ETF Advisers LLC now owns 4,772 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $213,000 after acquiring an additional 565 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its stake in New Jersey Resources by 46.3% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 254,977 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $11,366,000 after acquiring an additional 80,704 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.