Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.34

Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, October 24th,Zacks Dividends reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a dividend of 0.34 per share by the utilities provider on Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This is an increase from Middlesex Water’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33.

Middlesex Water has raised its dividend payment by an average of 6.6% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 52 years. Middlesex Water has a dividend payout ratio of 57.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Middlesex Water to earn $2.39 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.36 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 56.9%.

Middlesex Water Price Performance

Shares of Middlesex Water stock opened at $66.38 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.57. The company has a market cap of $1.19 billion, a PE ratio of 28.86 and a beta of 0.79. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $64.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $59.93. Middlesex Water has a fifty-two week low of $45.42 and a fifty-two week high of $73.47.

Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.13. Middlesex Water had a return on equity of 9.58% and a net margin of 22.53%. The business had revenue of $55.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $50.00 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.56 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Middlesex Water will post 2.34 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on MSEX shares. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Middlesex Water from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Baird R W lowered Middlesex Water from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th.

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.