Middlesex Water’s (MSEX) Neutral Rating Reiterated at Janney Montgomery Scott

Janney Montgomery Scott reiterated their neutral rating on shares of Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) in a research note published on Friday, MarketBeat reports.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on MSEX. StockNews.com raised shares of Middlesex Water from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 29th. Robert W. Baird upgraded Middlesex Water from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $61.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Middlesex Water in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $56.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Baird R W raised shares of Middlesex Water from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $58.50.

Middlesex Water Trading Down 4.2 %

Middlesex Water stock opened at $63.76 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.72, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.79. 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 firm’s fifty day moving average price is $56.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $59.02. Middlesex Water has a fifty-two week low of $45.42 and a fifty-two week high of $70.73.

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

Middlesex Water Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.13%. Middlesex Water’s payout ratio is 55.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Middlesex Water

In other news, Director Dennis W. Doll sold 4,067 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 represents a 7.24 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 1.86% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Middlesex Water

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Middlesex Water by 771.9% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 497 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 440 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in Middlesex Water by 1,136.4% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 544 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Middlesex Water by 1,006.4% in the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 520 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 473 shares during the last quarter. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Middlesex Water during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its position in Middlesex Water by 31.2% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 5,009 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $264,000 after purchasing an additional 1,192 shares during the last quarter. 79.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.