HighTower Advisors LLC Has $1.24 Million Holdings in Middlesex Water Company $MSEX

HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Middlesex Water Company (NASDAQ:MSEX) by 12.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 19,412 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,091 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC owned 0.11% of Middlesex Water worth $1,244,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Middlesex Water by 6,702.0% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 139,033 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,912,000 after buying an additional 136,989 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Middlesex Water by 751.4% in the 4th quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 91,530 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,817,000 after purchasing an additional 80,779 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Middlesex Water in the 1st quarter worth $3,306,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new position in shares of Middlesex Water in the 4th quarter worth $2,619,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Middlesex Water by 18.8% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 303,463 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $19,452,000 after buying an additional 48,072 shares during the period. 79.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on MSEX shares. Janney Montgomery Scott raised Middlesex Water from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $66.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Middlesex Water from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.00.

Middlesex Water Stock Performance

MSEX opened at $53.52 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $54.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $57.10. Middlesex Water Company has a 1 year low of $48.18 and a 1 year high of $70.73. The company has a market capitalization of $964.43 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.12, a P/E/G ratio of 3.77 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.41 and a quick ratio of 0.35.

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

Middlesex Water Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Middlesex Water’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.