NJR - New Jersey Resources cut to Sell equivalent at BofA on 'difficult' rate case

New Jersey Resources ([[NJR]] -2.9%) tumbles in early trading after Bank of America downgrades shares to Underperform from Neutral with a $39 price target, saying the NJNG petition to increase base rates by 25% will prove difficult.BofA analyst Julien Dumoulin-Smith also notes uncertain execution at Clean Energy Ventures due to management's limited track record on the path for the business.After the company's Investor Day, Smith says management pushed CEV capex from 2021 to 2022 driven by permitting delays from the pandemic, which he thinks leaves more limited upside to CEV targets especially when considering compensation under the NJ Solar Successor program remains under review.Smith also says the NJNG rate cases through 2024 will be critical to the outlook, and he believers the steep ~25% rate increase request will be closely scrutinized.New Jersey Resources' latest quarterly earnings easily topped analyst estimates.

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New Jersey Resources cut to Sell equivalent at BofA on 'difficult' rate case