Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) Stock Rating Lowered by Baird R W

Baird R W lowered shares of Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Monday, Zacks.com reports.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on MSEX. StockNews.com raised Middlesex Water to a sell rating in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. 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 report on Monday.

Middlesex Water Trading Up 0.0 %

NASDAQ:MSEX opened at $61.25 on Monday. Middlesex Water has a fifty-two week low of $45.42 and a fifty-two week high of $81.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.09 billion, a PE ratio of 30.32 and a beta of 0.79. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $56.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $54.24.

Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $40.52 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $42.00 million. Middlesex Water had a return on equity of 8.69% and a net margin of 21.14%. Sell-side analysts expect 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 will be paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.325 per share. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. Middlesex Water’s payout ratio is presently 64.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Walter G. Reinhard sold 857 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.16, for a total transaction of $48,986.12. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $408,751.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.86% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MSEX. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Middlesex Water by 6,462.7% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,347 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $220,000 after acquiring an additional 3,296 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in Middlesex Water by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 16,055 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,054,000 after purchasing an additional 433 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in Middlesex Water in the 4th quarter valued at $584,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake in Middlesex Water by 25.1% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 3,631 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $238,000 after purchasing an additional 728 shares during the period. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its stake in Middlesex Water by 13.9% in the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 4,215 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $277,000 after purchasing an additional 515 shares during the period. 79.52% of the stock is 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.