Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) Stock Position Lifted by State Street Corp

State Street Corp grew its position in Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) by 7.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 813,455 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 53,098 shares during the quarter. State Street Corp’s holdings in Middlesex Water were worth $53,070,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Thematics Asset Management boosted its holdings in Middlesex Water by 5.8% in the third quarter. Thematics Asset Management now owns 181,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,808,000 after purchasing an additional 10,000 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Middlesex Water by 9.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,018 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $458,000 after buying an additional 618 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Middlesex Water by 13.6% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 20,245 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,321,000 after buying an additional 2,429 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Middlesex Water by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 167,281 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,913,000 after buying an additional 6,844 shares during the period. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Middlesex Water during the third quarter worth about $271,000. 79.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Middlesex Water Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of MSEX stock opened at $54.84 on Friday. Middlesex Water has a 1 year low of $45.42 and a 1 year high of $71.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $979.17 million, a PE ratio of 23.84 and a beta of 0.82. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $64.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $61.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.65.

Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $50.00 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.56 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Middlesex Water will post 2.34 EPS for the current year.

Middlesex Water Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. This is a positive change from Middlesex Water’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.48%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. Middlesex Water’s payout ratio is presently 59.13%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Middlesex Water 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.