Ethic Inc. Reduces Position in Middlesex Water Company $MSEX

Ethic Inc. trimmed its position in Middlesex Water Company (NASDAQ:MSEX) by 40.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,260 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 7,694 shares during the quarter. Ethic Inc. owned approximately 0.06% of Middlesex Water worth $614,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MSEX. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Middlesex Water by 2.6% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 88,933 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,701,000 after acquiring an additional 2,293 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Middlesex Water by 128.3% in the first quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 662 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 372 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Middlesex Water in the first quarter worth $238,000. Cable Hill Partners LLC lifted its stake in Middlesex Water by 10.6% in the first quarter. Cable Hill Partners LLC now owns 4,293 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $271,000 after acquiring an additional 413 shares during the period. Finally, Crestwood Advisors Group LLC purchased a new position in Middlesex Water during the first quarter valued at $208,000. 79.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Middlesex Water in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $61.00.

Middlesex Water Trading Down 1.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:MSEX opened at $60.99 on Wednesday. Middlesex Water Company has a 12-month low of $48.18 and a 12-month high of $70.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The company has a market cap of $1.10 billion, a PE ratio of 25.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.28 and a beta of 0.83. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $54.97 and a 200 day moving average of $56.12.

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

Middlesex Water Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. This is a positive change from Middlesex Water’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 17th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Middlesex Water’s payout ratio is currently 56.20%.

Middlesex Water Company 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.