Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV Sells 893 Shares of Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX)

Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV trimmed its holdings in Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) by 21.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,343 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 893 shares during the quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV’s holdings in Middlesex Water were worth $176,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MSEX. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in shares of Middlesex Water by 1,136.4% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 544 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Middlesex Water in the third quarter worth $230,000. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Middlesex Water in the third quarter worth $271,000. Inspire Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Middlesex Water by 20.8% in the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 7,633 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $402,000 after buying an additional 1,315 shares during the period. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Middlesex Water by 16.6% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 8,313 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $438,000 after buying an additional 1,186 shares during the period. 79.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Middlesex Water Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of Middlesex Water stock opened at $60.01 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $53.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $59.18. The company has a market cap of $1.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.09, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.85. 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 earnings results on Friday, February 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $47.11 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $45.00 million. Middlesex Water had a net margin of 22.53% and a return on equity of 9.58%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.32 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Middlesex Water will post 2.34 EPS for the current year.

Middlesex Water Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Middlesex Water’s dividend payout ratio is presently 55.06%.

Middlesex Water Company 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.