Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) Shares Bought by Cerity Partners LLC

Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 20,245 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,429 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC owned about 0.11% of Middlesex Water worth $1,321,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MSEX. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its position in Middlesex Water by 2.3% during the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 9,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $470,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV grew its position in Middlesex Water by 5.0% during the third quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 4,236 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $276,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its position in Middlesex Water by 4.7% during the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 9,462 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $494,000 after purchasing an additional 421 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its stake in Middlesex Water by 65.1% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,306 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $68,000 after acquiring an additional 515 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in Middlesex Water by 2.4% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 24,685 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,290,000 after acquiring an additional 580 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.52% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Robert W. Baird lifted 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 Price Performance

NASDAQ MSEX opened at $62.61 on Wednesday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $1.12 billion, a PE ratio of 27.22 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $65.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $60.99. Middlesex Water has a 12-month low of $45.42 and a 12-month high of $73.47.

Middlesex Water (NASDAQ:MSEX) last posted its earnings results 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. Middlesex Water had a net margin of 22.53% and a return on equity of 9.58%. The firm had revenue of $55.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $50.00 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.56 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Middlesex Water will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Middlesex Water Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.17%. This is a positive change from Middlesex Water’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. Middlesex Water’s payout ratio is 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.