Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) Trading Down 2%

Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX)’s share price was down 2% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $65.89 and last traded at $65.89. Approximately 8,556 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 94% from the average daily volume of 142,463 shares. The stock had previously closed at $67.22.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on MSEX shares. Robert W. Baird lowered Middlesex Water from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $58.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Baird R W downgraded shares of Middlesex Water from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th.

Middlesex Water Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $1.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.28 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $62.44 and a 200 day moving average of $55.66.

Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.64 by ($0.05). Middlesex Water had a return on equity of 8.69% and a net margin of 21.14%. The company had revenue of $49.15 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $47.00 million. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Middlesex Water will post 2.21 EPS for the current year.

Middlesex Water Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were issued a dividend of $0.325 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.92%. Middlesex Water’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.36%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Foundry Partners LLC increased its stake in Middlesex Water by 22.4% during the first quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 56,400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,961,000 after acquiring an additional 10,315 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Middlesex Water in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,113,000. KBC Group NV lifted its position in Middlesex Water by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 255,015 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $16,734,000 after buying an additional 35,332 shares during the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd acquired a new position in Middlesex Water in the first quarter valued at about $401,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Middlesex Water by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,427,157 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $93,650,000 after buying an additional 20,712 shares during the period. 79.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.