Inspire Investing LLC Trims Stake in Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX)

Inspire Investing LLC lowered its position in shares of Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) by 2.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,624 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 176 shares during the quarter. Inspire Investing LLC’s holdings in Middlesex Water were worth $346,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. KBC Group NV grew its stake in Middlesex Water by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 255,015 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $16,734,000 after purchasing an additional 35,332 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Middlesex Water in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,796,000. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Middlesex Water by 26.5% during the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 150,821 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,918,000 after purchasing an additional 31,607 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Middlesex Water by 12.5% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 219,119 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,451,000 after acquiring an additional 24,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Middlesex Water during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,113,000. 79.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSEX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird lowered Middlesex Water from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $58.00 target price for the company. in a report on Monday, August 5th. Baird R W lowered Middlesex Water from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th.

Middlesex Water Trading Down 1.9 %

NASDAQ MSEX opened at $64.52 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Middlesex Water has a one year low of $45.42 and a one year high of $73.47. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $63.23 and its 200-day moving average is $56.16. The firm has a market cap of $1.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.94 and a beta of 0.79.

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

Middlesex Water Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were paid a $0.325 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.01%. Middlesex Water’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.36%.

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.