Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Sells 10,650 Shares of Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP reduced its stake in Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 429,580 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 10,650 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 2.41% of Middlesex Water worth $22,609,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Middlesex Water by 349.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 29,919 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,952,000 after buying an additional 23,262 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Middlesex Water in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,595,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Middlesex Water by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 86,640 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,560,000 after acquiring an additional 2,544 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in shares of Middlesex Water during the 4th quarter worth approximately $379,000. Finally, WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Middlesex Water in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,025,000. 79.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Dennis W. Doll sold 4,067 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.05, for a total transaction of $244,223.35. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 52,112 shares in the company, valued at $3,129,325.60. The trade was a 7.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.32% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on MSEX. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Middlesex Water from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $61.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Janney Montgomery Scott restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Middlesex Water in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Baird R W raised Middlesex Water from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com cut Middlesex Water from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $58.50.

Middlesex Water Stock Performance

Shares of MSEX opened at $61.28 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $1.10 billion, a PE ratio of 26.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.88. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $61.62 and a 200-day moving average of $58.67. Middlesex Water has a one year low of $48.18 and a one year high of $70.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.57.

Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by ($0.02). Middlesex Water had a return on equity of 9.58% and a net margin of 22.53%. The business had revenue of $44.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $43.79 million. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Middlesex Water will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Middlesex Water Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Middlesex Water’s dividend payout ratio is 56.43%.

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.