Swiss National Bank Has $2.22 Million Stake in Middlesex Water Company $MSEX

Swiss National Bank lowered its stake in shares of Middlesex Water Company (NASDAQ:MSEX) by 1.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 34,562 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 400 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.19% of Middlesex Water worth $2,215,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Middlesex Water by 9.4% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,471,404 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $77,440,000 after purchasing an additional 126,732 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Middlesex Water by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,412,377 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $90,533,000 after buying an additional 20,876 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Middlesex Water by 11.6% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 223,361 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,755,000 after acquiring an additional 23,289 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Middlesex Water by 6,702.0% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 139,033 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,912,000 after acquiring an additional 136,989 shares during the period. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC grew its stake in Middlesex Water by 13.5% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 133,629 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,033,000 after acquiring an additional 15,878 shares during the period. 79.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on MSEX. Janney Montgomery Scott raised Middlesex Water from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $66.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Wall Street Zen cut Middlesex Water from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $61.00.

Middlesex Water Trading Up 3.3%

NASDAQ:MSEX opened at $54.56 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $983.17 million, a P/E ratio of 22.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 0.81. Middlesex Water Company has a twelve month low of $48.18 and a twelve month high of $70.73. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $54.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $56.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $49.32 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $52.60 million. Middlesex Water had a net margin of 22.15% and a return on equity of 9.67%. As a group, analysts expect that Middlesex Water Company will post 2.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Middlesex Water Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Middlesex Water’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.20%.

Middlesex Water 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.