Middlesex Water Company (NASDAQ:MSEX) Receives $61.67 Consensus PT from Analysts

Shares of Middlesex Water Company (NASDAQ:MSEX) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the five research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $61.6667.

MSEX has been the subject of several analyst reports. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Middlesex Water from $73.00 to $63.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Middlesex Water in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th.

Institutional Trading of Middlesex Water

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Middlesex Water by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,481,298 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $94,952,000 after acquiring an additional 9,894 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Middlesex Water by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,412,377 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $90,533,000 after purchasing an additional 20,876 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in Middlesex Water by 32.9% during the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 379,762 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $20,553,000 after purchasing an additional 94,082 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Middlesex Water by 7.9% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 327,335 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $17,735,000 after buying an additional 23,872 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Middlesex Water by 2.0% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 193,550 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,487,000 after buying an additional 3,751 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.52% of the company’s stock.

Middlesex Water Price Performance

NASDAQ MSEX opened at $49.87 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $54.68 and its 200-day moving average is $54.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The company has a market capitalization of $914.52 million, a PE ratio of 20.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.01 and a beta of 0.86. Middlesex Water has a 12-month low of $44.17 and a 12-month high of $68.64.

Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) last released its earnings results on Friday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by ($0.09). Middlesex Water had a net margin of 22.15% and a return on equity of 9.67%. The business had revenue of $54.09 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $56.08 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that Middlesex Water will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Middlesex Water Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Investors of record on Monday, November 17th will be paid a $0.36 dividend. This is a boost from Middlesex Water’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 17th. Middlesex Water’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 60.25%.

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.