Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) was upgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Wednesday.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Baird R W raised shares of Middlesex Water from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Middlesex Water in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $56.00 target price for the company. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised shares of Middlesex Water from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $61.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, March 3rd.

Middlesex Water Price Performance

Shares of MSEX stock opened at $59.46 on Wednesday. Middlesex Water has a 12-month low of $45.42 and a 12-month high of $70.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $53.50 and a 200-day moving average of $59.19.

Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.13. Middlesex Water had a net margin of 22.53% and a return on equity of 9.58%. The company had revenue of $47.11 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $45.00 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.32 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Middlesex Water will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Middlesex Water

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Middlesex Water by 9.4% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,471,404 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $77,440,000 after purchasing an additional 126,732 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Middlesex Water by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 813,455 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $53,070,000 after purchasing an additional 53,098 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Middlesex Water by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 434,559 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,356,000 after purchasing an additional 3,430 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Middlesex Water by 11.6% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 223,361 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $11,755,000 after purchasing an additional 23,289 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Middlesex Water by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 214,913 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $11,311,000 after purchasing an additional 6,983 shares during the period. 79.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Middlesex Water Company Profile

Middlesex Water Company owns and operates regulated water utility and wastewater systems. It operates in Regulated and Non-Regulated segments. The Regulated segment collects, treats, and distributes water on a retail and wholesale basis to residential, commercial, industrial, and fire protection customers, as well as provides regulated wastewater systems in New Jersey and Delaware.