Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) Trading Down 4% – Here’s Why

Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX)’s share price was down 4% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $60.50 and last traded at $59.70. Approximately 10,386 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 91% from the average daily volume of 120,908 shares. The stock had previously closed at $62.21.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on MSEX shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Middlesex Water from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Baird R W raised shares of Middlesex Water from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Middlesex Water from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $61.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on shares of Middlesex Water in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $56.00 price objective for the company.

Middlesex Water Stock Performance

The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $53.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $59.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.09 billion, a PE ratio of 26.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.85.

Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.13. Middlesex Water had a net margin of 22.53% and a return on equity of 9.58%. The firm had revenue of $47.11 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $45.00 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.32 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Middlesex Water will post 2.34 EPS for the current year.

Middlesex Water Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Middlesex Water’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.06%.

Institutional Trading of Middlesex Water

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MSEX. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Middlesex Water by 9.4% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,471,404 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $77,440,000 after buying an additional 126,732 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its position in Middlesex Water by 751.4% in the fourth quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 91,530 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,817,000 after buying an additional 80,779 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Middlesex Water by 187.2% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 92,560 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,871,000 after buying an additional 60,337 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in Middlesex Water by 7.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 813,455 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $53,070,000 after buying an additional 53,098 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new stake in Middlesex Water in the fourth quarter worth $2,619,000. 79.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.