Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) Rating Increased to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report released on Friday morning.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on MSEX. Janney Montgomery Scott reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Middlesex Water in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Robert W. Baird raised Middlesex Water from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $61.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Baird R W upgraded Middlesex Water from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $58.50.

Middlesex Water Price Performance

Shares of MSEX stock opened at $62.66 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $59.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $58.88. Middlesex Water has a one year low of $46.30 and a one year high of $70.73. The firm has a market cap of $1.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.57.

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

Middlesex Water Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Middlesex Water’s dividend payout ratio is 55.06%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Dennis W. Doll sold 4,067 shares of Middlesex Water stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.05, for a total value of $244,223.35. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 52,112 shares in the company, valued at $3,129,325.60. This trade represents a 7.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.86% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Middlesex Water by 9.4% in the fourth 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 buying an additional 126,732 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Middlesex Water by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 813,455 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $53,070,000 after acquiring an additional 53,098 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Middlesex Water by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 434,559 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,356,000 after acquiring an additional 3,430 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake 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 boosted its position 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 worth $11,311,000 after purchasing an additional 6,983 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.52% of the company’s stock.

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.