Middlesex Water Company (NASDAQ:MSEX) Receives $61.67 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of Middlesex Water Company (NASDAQ:MSEX) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the five brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $61.6667.

Several analysts recently weighed in on MSEX shares. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Middlesex Water from $73.00 to $63.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Middlesex Water in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th.

Middlesex Water Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ MSEX opened at $51.17 on Friday. Middlesex Water has a 1 year low of $44.17 and a 1 year high of $67.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.41 and a quick ratio of 0.35. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $54.63 and a 200 day moving average of $54.74. The stock has a market cap of $938.36 million, a P/E ratio of 21.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.01 and a beta of 0.86.

Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by ($0.09). Middlesex Water had a return on equity of 9.67% and a net margin of 22.15%.The business had revenue of $54.09 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $56.08 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Middlesex Water will post 2.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Middlesex Water Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Investors of record on Monday, November 17th will be given a dividend of $0.36 per share. This is a positive change from Middlesex Water’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 17th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. Middlesex Water’s payout ratio is currently 60.25%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MSEX. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in Middlesex Water by 483.5% during the 3rd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 566 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 469 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of Middlesex Water by 137.8% during the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 635 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 368 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Middlesex Water by 35.8% in the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 645 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Costello Asset Management INC purchased a new position in Middlesex Water in the 1st quarter worth about $50,000. Finally, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. bought a new position in Middlesex Water during the 2nd quarter valued at about $72,000. 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.