South Jersey Industries (NYSE:SJI) Cut to “Sell” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of South Jersey Industries (NYSE:SJI – Get Rating) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report released on Monday morning.

Separately, Maxim Group downgraded South Jersey Industries from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Friday, February 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $26.25.

SJI stock opened at $34.07 on Monday. South Jersey Industries has a one year low of $20.75 and a one year high of $35.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The stock has a market cap of $4.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.88 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $34.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $30.62.

South Jersey Industries (NYSE:SJI – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by ($0.07). South Jersey Industries had a return on equity of 9.82% and a net margin of 4.14%. The firm had revenue of $824.58 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $689.67 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.26 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 22.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that South Jersey Industries will post 1.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 5th. Investors of record on Friday, June 10th will be paid a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 9th.

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SJI. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new position in South Jersey Industries in the third quarter valued at about $1,595,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in South Jersey Industries by 1.2% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,713,526 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,432,000 after purchasing an additional 20,757 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in South Jersey Industries by 2.7% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,213,654 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,803,000 after purchasing an additional 31,741 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in South Jersey Industries by 11.7% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 841,506 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $17,891,000 after purchasing an additional 88,036 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Guggenheim Capital LLC raised its stake in South Jersey Industries by 89.9% in the third quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 120,570 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,564,000 after purchasing an additional 57,095 shares in the last quarter. 84.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

South Jersey Industries Company Profile (Get Rating)

South Jersey Industries, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides energy-related products and services. The company engages in the purchase, transmission, and sale of natural gas. It also sells natural gas and pipeline transportation capacity on a wholesale basis to residential, commercial, and industrial customers on the interstate pipeline system, as well as transports natural gas purchased directly from producers or suppliers to customers.

Featured Stories