New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR – Get Rating) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, July 15th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 26th will be given a dividend of 0.3625 per share by the utilities provider on Monday, October 3rd. This represents a $1.45 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.30%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 23rd.

New Jersey Resources has increased its dividend by an average of 7.2% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 26 consecutive years. New Jersey Resources has a payout ratio of 63.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect New Jersey Resources to earn $2.46 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.56 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 63.4%.

New Jersey Resources Stock Performance

New Jersey Resources stock opened at $43.89 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.76. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $45.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $44.89. The company has a market capitalization of $4.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.17, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.54. New Jersey Resources has a fifty-two week low of $34.42 and a fifty-two week high of $47.50.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On New Jersey Resources

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Prudential Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of New Jersey Resources by 104.6% during the 1st quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 24,877 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,141,000 after purchasing an additional 12,721 shares during the period. Guggenheim Capital LLC grew its stake in New Jersey Resources by 92.6% during the first quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 20,831 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $956,000 after buying an additional 10,017 shares during the period. Ethic Inc. increased its position in shares of New Jersey Resources by 42.7% in the first quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 20,856 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $956,000 after acquiring an additional 6,241 shares in the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of New Jersey Resources by 7.8% in the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 19,631 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $900,000 after acquiring an additional 1,416 shares during the period. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. raised its stake in shares of New Jersey Resources by 8.3% in the 1st quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 17,826 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $818,000 after acquiring an additional 1,360 shares during the period. 73.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on NJR shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered New Jersey Resources from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $47.00 to $46.00 in a research note on Friday, September 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of New Jersey Resources from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 8th. Finally, TheStreet raised shares of New Jersey Resources from a "c+" rating to a "b" rating in a research report on Monday, August 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $46.00.

About New Jersey Resources

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New Jersey Resources Corporation, an energy services holding company, provides regulated gas distribution, and retail and wholesale energy services. 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 564,000 residential and commercial customers throughout 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.

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