Jane Street Group LLC Has $701,000 Stake in Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX)

Jane Street Group LLC lowered its stake in Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) by 83.8% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 10,751 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 55,584 shares during the quarter. Jane Street Group LLC’s holdings in Middlesex Water were worth $701,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in MSEX. State Street Corp grew its stake in Middlesex Water by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 813,455 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $53,070,000 after buying an additional 53,098 shares during the last quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. bought a new position in shares of Middlesex Water in the second quarter worth about $2,016,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Middlesex Water by 89.0% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 74,946 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,889,000 after purchasing an additional 35,282 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Middlesex Water by 12.5% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 219,119 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $11,451,000 after purchasing an additional 24,400 shares during the period. Finally, IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd acquired a new stake in Middlesex Water in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,392,000. Institutional investors own 79.52% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Bank of America assumed coverage on Middlesex Water in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $56.00 price target for the company. Robert W. Baird upped their target price 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.

Middlesex Water Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of MSEX opened at $51.73 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $61.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $61.43. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $923.64 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.82. Middlesex Water has a 12-month low of $45.42 and a 12-month high of $70.73.

Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $55.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $50.00 million. Middlesex Water had a return on equity of 9.58% and a net margin of 22.53%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.56 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Middlesex Water will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Middlesex Water Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.63%. This is an increase from Middlesex Water’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. Middlesex Water’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.13%.

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.