Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) Stock Price Up 6.1%

Shares of Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) rose 6.1% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $59.98 and last traded at $59.98. Approximately 67,565 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 54% from the average daily volume of 147,413 shares. The stock had previously closed at $56.55.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSEX has been the topic of several analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Middlesex Water to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Middlesex Water from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 9th.

Middlesex Water Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $53.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $54.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.95. The company has a market capitalization of $1.06 billion, a PE ratio of 29.51 and a beta of 0.80.

Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.14. Middlesex Water had a net margin of 21.55% and a return on equity of 8.64%. The company had revenue of $40.52 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $42.00 million. As a group, research analysts expect that Middlesex Water will post 2.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Middlesex Water Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th were given a $0.325 dividend. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 14th. Middlesex Water’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.36%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Middlesex Water news, Director Walter G. Reinhard sold 857 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.16, for a total transaction of $48,986.12. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $408,751.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.86% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Middlesex Water

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MSEX. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Middlesex Water by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,427,157 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $93,650,000 after acquiring an additional 20,712 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Middlesex Water by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 467,032 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,648,000 after buying an additional 1,546 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of Middlesex Water by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 255,015 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $16,734,000 after buying an additional 35,332 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Middlesex Water by 26.5% during the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 150,821 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,918,000 after buying an additional 31,607 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Middlesex Water by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 146,041 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,583,000 after buying an additional 7,893 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.52% of the company’s stock.

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.