Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) Trading Down 4.7% – Time to Sell?

Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) shares dropped 4.7% on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $48.69 and last traded at $48.74. Approximately 28,932 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 76% from the average daily volume of 118,403 shares. The stock had previously closed at $51.14.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on MSEX. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Middlesex Water from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America initiated coverage on Middlesex Water in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $56.00 price objective for the company.

Middlesex Water Stock Down 1.0 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.65. The company has a market cap of $868.94 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.85. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $57.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $61.20.

Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $55.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $50.00 million. Middlesex Water had a net margin of 22.53% and a return on equity of 9.58%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.56 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Middlesex Water will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Middlesex Water

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV raised its holdings in Middlesex Water by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 4,236 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $276,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its holdings in Middlesex Water by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 9,462 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $494,000 after buying an additional 421 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in shares of Middlesex Water by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 24,685 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,290,000 after buying an additional 580 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Middlesex Water by 9.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,018 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $458,000 after purchasing an additional 618 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in shares of Middlesex Water by 9.0% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 9,280 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $485,000 after acquiring an additional 767 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.