Middlesex Water (MSEX) To Go Ex-Dividend on February 18th

Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, January 28th,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a dividend of 0.34 per share by the utilities provider on Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th.

Middlesex Water has increased its dividend payment by an average of 5.9% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 21 consecutive years. Middlesex Water has a dividend payout ratio of 53.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Middlesex Water to earn $2.42 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 56.2%.

Middlesex Water Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of Middlesex Water stock opened at $51.00 on Thursday. Middlesex Water has a 52-week low of $45.42 and a 52-week high of $70.73. The company has a 50 day moving average of $55.83 and a 200 day moving average of $61.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $910.35 million, a P/E ratio of 22.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.85.

Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $55.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $50.00 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.56 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Middlesex Water will post 2.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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