Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) Trading Up 4.7% – Here’s What Happened

Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX)’s share price was up 4.7% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $60.26 and last traded at $60.75. Approximately 19,623 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 110,985 shares. The stock had previously closed at $58.03.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MSEX. Robert W. Baird upgraded 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. StockNews.com raised Middlesex Water from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Middlesex Water in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $56.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Baird R W upgraded shares of Middlesex Water from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday.

Middlesex Water Price Performance

The company has a fifty day moving average price of $51.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $59.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The company has a market cap of $1.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.85.

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. The firm had revenue of $47.11 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 firm posted $0.32 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Middlesex Water will post 2.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Middlesex Water Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Middlesex Water’s dividend payout ratio is 55.06%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Middlesex Water

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MSEX. Barclays PLC grew its position in Middlesex Water by 349.4% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 29,919 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,952,000 after acquiring an additional 23,262 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in 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 acquiring an additional 53,098 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Middlesex Water by 0.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 434,559 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,356,000 after acquiring an additional 3,430 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Middlesex Water by 9.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,018 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $458,000 after purchasing an additional 618 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thematics Asset Management grew its stake in shares of Middlesex Water by 5.8% during the third quarter. Thematics Asset Management now owns 181,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $11,808,000 after purchasing an additional 10,000 shares during the last quarter. 79.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.