Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) Shares Gap Up After Analyst Upgrade

Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Monday after Robert W. Baird raised their price target on the stock from $58.00 to $61.00. The stock had previously closed at $61.19, but opened at $65.27. Robert W. Baird currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Middlesex Water shares last traded at $65.27, with a volume of 1,023 shares traded.

Separately, Baird R W lowered Middlesex Water from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th.

Institutional Trading of Middlesex Water

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Middlesex Water by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,427,157 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $93,650,000 after buying an additional 20,712 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Middlesex Water during the first quarter valued at $266,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in Middlesex Water by 36.8% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 18,679 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $981,000 after purchasing an additional 5,020 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its position in Middlesex Water by 73.6% during the 1st quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 6,302 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $331,000 after purchasing an additional 2,671 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Texas Permanent School Fund Corp raised its stake in Middlesex Water by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 15,584 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $818,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.52% of the company’s stock.

Middlesex Water Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $1.15 billion, a PE ratio of 27.94 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.90. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $64.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $58.92.

Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $55.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $50.00 million. Middlesex Water had a net margin of 22.53% and a return on equity of 9.66%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.56 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Middlesex Water will post 2.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Middlesex Water Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a $0.34 dividend. This is a positive change from Middlesex Water’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Middlesex Water’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.52%.

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.