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

New Jersey Resources Co. (NYSE:NJR) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, January 23rd,Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be paid a dividend of 0.45 per share by the utilities provider on Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.84%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th.

New Jersey Resources has increased its dividend by an average of 7.8% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 29 consecutive years. New Jersey Resources has a payout ratio of 57.9% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. 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 Price Performance

NJR stock opened at $46.91 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.68 billion, a PE ratio of 16.06 and a beta of 0.64. New Jersey Resources has a one year low of $39.44 and a one year high of $51.94. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $47.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $46.68.

New Jersey Resources (NYSE:NJR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89. The business had revenue of $395.78 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $406.97 million. New Jersey Resources had a return on equity of 13.54% and a net margin of 16.13%. New Jersey Resources’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.30 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that New Jersey Resources will post 3.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Patrick J. Migliaccio sold 4,983 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.00, for a total value of $229,218.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 37,124 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,707,704. This trade represents a 11.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on NJR. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of New Jersey Resources from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of New Jersey Resources from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $52.00 to $54.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim increased their price objective on New Jersey Resources from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, StockNews.com cut New Jersey Resources from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.00.

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.