New Jersey Resources Co. Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.45 (NYSE:NJR)

New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, April 16th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be paid a dividend of 0.45 per share by the utilities provider on Tuesday, July 1st. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.62%.

New Jersey Resources has raised its dividend by an average of 7.8% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 29 consecutive years. New Jersey Resources has a dividend payout ratio of 57.9% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect New Jersey Resources to earn $3.12 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.80 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 57.7%.

New Jersey Resources Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of NJR stock traded up $0.99 on Wednesday, reaching $49.73. The company had a trading volume of 730,998 shares, compared to its average volume of 628,345. The company has a 50-day moving average of $47.82 and a 200-day moving average of $47.46. The stock has a market cap of $4.99 billion, a PE ratio of 14.98 and a beta of 0.58. New Jersey Resources has a 12 month low of $41.30 and a 12 month high of $51.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29.

New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The utilities provider reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.15. New Jersey Resources had a return on equity of 15.72% and a net margin of 18.25%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.74 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that New Jersey Resources will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other New Jersey Resources news, CFO Roberto Bel sold 2,346 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.58, for a total transaction of $113,968.68. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 23,822 shares in the company, valued at $1,157,272.76. This trade represents a 8.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of New Jersey Resources from $54.00 to $52.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com upgraded New Jersey Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Guggenheim lifted their target price on shares of New Jersey Resources from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on New Jersey Resources in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued a “hold” rating and a $51.00 price objective for the company. Finally, New Street Research set a $51.00 target price on New Jersey Resources in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.50.

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.