Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on MSEX. Baird R W upgraded shares of Middlesex Water from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Middlesex Water in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $56.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Middlesex Water from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $61.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 3rd.

Middlesex Water Price Performance

MSEX stock opened at $59.97 on Wednesday. Middlesex Water has a one year low of $45.42 and a one year high of $70.73. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $53.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $59.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.65. The company has a market capitalization of $1.07 billion, a PE ratio of 26.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.85.

Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.13. Middlesex Water had a net margin of 22.53% and a return on equity of 9.58%. The firm had revenue of $47.11 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $45.00 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.32 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Middlesex Water will post 2.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Middlesex Water Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Middlesex Water’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 55.06%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Barclays PLC increased its position in Middlesex Water by 349.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 29,919 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,952,000 after acquiring an additional 23,262 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Middlesex Water by 7.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 813,455 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $53,070,000 after purchasing an additional 53,098 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Middlesex Water by 0.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 434,559 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,356,000 after purchasing an additional 3,430 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Middlesex Water by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 86,640 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,560,000 after purchasing an additional 2,544 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Middlesex Water by 9.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,018 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $458,000 after purchasing an additional 618 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.52% of the company’s stock.

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.