Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) Trading Up 7.8% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Middlesex Water Company (NASDAQ:MSEX) were up 7.8% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $53.32 and last traded at $53.7910. Approximately 95,019 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 35% from the average daily volume of 145,586 shares. The stock had previously closed at $49.92.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on MSEX shares. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Middlesex Water from $73.00 to $63.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Middlesex Water in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $61.67.

Middlesex Water Price Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average of $55.13 and a 200 day moving average of $55.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The company has a market capitalization of $968.43 million, a P/E ratio of 21.82, a P/E/G ratio of 4.01 and a beta of 0.86.

Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $54.09 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $56.08 million. Middlesex Water had a net margin of 22.15% and a return on equity of 9.67%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Middlesex Water Company will post 2.34 EPS for the current year.

Middlesex Water Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 17th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. This is a boost from Middlesex Water’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Middlesex Water’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.25%.

Institutional Trading of Middlesex Water

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Middlesex Water by 0.7% during the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,481,298 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $94,952,000 after acquiring an additional 9,894 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Middlesex Water by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,412,377 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $90,533,000 after purchasing an additional 20,876 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Middlesex Water by 7.9% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 327,335 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $17,735,000 after purchasing an additional 23,872 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in shares of Middlesex Water by 11.8% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 285,680 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $15,478,000 after purchasing an additional 30,086 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Middlesex Water by 2.0% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 193,550 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,487,000 after buying an additional 3,751 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.52% of the company’s stock.

About Middlesex Water

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.