Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) Short Interest Update

Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) saw a significant drop in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 578,500 shares, a drop of 23.0% from the December 15th total of 751,200 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 117,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.9 days. Approximately 3.3% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Institutional Trading of Middlesex Water

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MSEX. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Middlesex Water by 66.2% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,046 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $133,000 after buying an additional 815 shares in the last quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC acquired a new position in Middlesex Water in the third quarter worth $210,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Middlesex Water in the third quarter worth $225,000. Everence Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Middlesex Water in the third quarter worth $230,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Middlesex Water in the third quarter worth $230,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.52% of the company’s stock.

Middlesex Water Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of MSEX stock traded down $0.47 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $51.06. 124,991 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 127,308. Middlesex Water has a fifty-two week low of $45.42 and a fifty-two week high of $70.73. 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 $911.42 million, a P/E ratio of 22.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.85. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $58.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $61.29.

Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) last released its quarterly 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 net margin of 22.53% and a return on equity of 9.58%. The business had revenue of $55.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $50.00 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.56 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Middlesex Water will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Middlesex Water Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.66%. This is an increase from Middlesex Water’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. Middlesex Water’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.13%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MSEX. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Middlesex Water from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Middlesex Water in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $56.00 price objective on the 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.